Innocent Valhalla
By Oriondruid.
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Summary:Valhalla, the place where Norse heroes go after they die, a place where they fight fiercely and joyously all day and even if they are slain are reborn to feast and carouse all night for all eternity in Odin's Hall. But Hunger Games Tributes were not Norse heroes, they were given no choice in their fate. They were simply murdered children, so where did they go after they were killed?
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Disclaimer: As should be self-evident from my site profile I am not Suzanne Collins. Therefore I hold no claim to The Hunger Games, these characters or their situation. They are all inspired by the brilliant work of the author herself and I thank her for the opportunity to 'play' in her world for a while. This is an amateur work, not intended for profit.
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Dannell Costa knew he was dead, he was sure of it, taking a spear in your stomach will tend to kill you. He remembered the terrible pain and shock, then the grief that flooded into his soul as he thought of how he would not see his parents and beloved sister Ella again. He had always known he would probably be killed in the horrible 'Games', that he had little chance. He was not a 'Career' and had little skill with weapons and even less wish to kill, but he had vowed to try as hard as he could to get home, for his loved one's sake as much as his own.
He would never have believed it if anyone had told him he would last less than ten minutes in the Arena, and that most of those would be spent dying in agony, bleeding out slowly into the grass by the Cornucopia. But those brief but seemingly endless and terrible minutes were all the time it took for his life to be ended and for his Games to be over. As he had faded out of life, doubled up in awful pain around the weapon that killed him, he had strength only for two words to those he loved and hoping the camera was on him with his last breath whispered, "I'm sorry."
He awoke from a sleep he thought would never end and found himself lying in the sunshine surrounded by tall grass. Sitting up and looking around him he saw he was in a lush meadow which was surrounded by trees and scattered among the grass there were colorful wild flowers waving in a gentle, warm breeze. In the middle distance he saw a small river, little more than a stream really, with several beautiful willow trees beside it, their branches hanging low to almost touch the water. In the shade of the trees he could see other children sat on the ground talking and could faintly hear their distant laughter.
He got up and examined himself, feeling no pain and finding no trace of the wound which had killed him. Seeing this and knowing he must have died he realised that this must be what 'comes after' and thought, more cheerfully than he had done since his Reaping, 'I'll settle for this, it's lovely here.' He then began to walk towards the small knots of children sat by the trees on the riverbank and as he drew closer he saw one girl in particular that he recognized as a fellow Tribute and a friend, so it was towards her that he headed.
Mellisa Hadlow, who had been his fellow District 3 tribute spotted Dannell as he approached and getting up from the shade of the willow tree she ran towards him, calling out happily for him to join her, which he did. As he got to her she took him by both hands and kissed him on the cheek. She said, "Welcome Dannell, I only just got here myself, I never even lasted as long as you, I saw you hit by that spear and fall bleeding as you tried to grab that backpack, but then I was killed by one of the Careers with a sword. I'm so sorry it must have been a horrible end for you, I was lucky I suppose, at least for me it was almost instantaneous and I didn't suffer."
Then smiling a little she said, "But now all that fear and pain is behind us and we have this wonderful place to share and wait for our loved ones. Come over and meet Reena, she just found me, she's amazing and I'm sure she'll explain everything we need to know."
Dannell had liked Mellisa ever since they became Tributes together on the day of their Reaping, even though they had never actually met before back in their District. She was almost seventeen, two years older than himself and something about her reminded him of his big sister Ella. In the Training Center they had become very good friends and had planned to team up as allies in the Games and to try and survive as long as possible without having to kill. Sadly that partnership had never happened, as neither had made it out of the 'bloodbath' alive.
Mellisa took Dannell by the hand and led him towards the small knot of people she had been sat with when he'd arrived. In passing she introduced him to a couple of children whom he didn't know, but who seemed to be very at home in this strange place. Dannell thought they must have been in an earlier Games and that maybe Mellisa had known them in their District before they were Reaped.
His friend then took him over to see another girl, or rather a young woman. She introduced Dannell to her and then said, "Dannell, this is Reena, she is here to help new 'arrivals' and is assigned to us two. She was once a Tribute like ourselves who died very young in an earlier Games, but now is someone you might think of as an 'angel' or perhaps as our 'escort' here into the afterlife. That's about all I can tell you though, as I only got here a few minutes before you did, so we haven't had much time to talk, so we'd best let Reena tell us what's to happen."
Reena was a tall, athletic looking caramel skinned girl, with long brown hair which hung down to her shoulders. She was very pretty with elegant District 12 looks, an appearance that once, and before Panem existed, would have been described as African/American. She appeared to be about eighteen or perhaps a little older and was casually dressed in blue denim jeans and a white, lightweight summer polo shirt, with a beautiful gold pendant of some sort of bird around her neck.
The young woman beamed at Dannell, a smile almost as bright as the sun in the blue sky overhead and took his hand in both her own, saying; "Welcome Dannell and once again welcome Mellisa. I've been expecting you two, it's lovely to meet you both, it's always nice when the Tributes I'm assigned to are friends who knew each other before they got here. It's good you were from the same District too, you'll have much in common. Don't worry about the 'angel' bit by the way, it's got no sectarian religious entanglements, it's more like a job title and I certainly haven't got any wings, just a couple of minor powers that I've been given to help me do my work." She beamed at her two young 'charges'.
Dannell laughed a little at her 'wings' remark and then Reena went on, saying; " You see I've been here for quite some while as I died way back in the 12th Hunger Games and I decided sometime ago that it was about time to get off my backside and help out some others less used to this place than myself. So I asked for this task and it was decided by the Powers of Light that I would be suitable for the 'job'."
Reena continued to explain, saying; "You could think of me as being a bit like your Capitol Escort was on Earth, I take new people around, 'show them the ropes' and try answer any questions they may have. For instance, I'm sure you must be curious regarding your arrival in this meadow. You may be wondering why you came here first. That's because it is not only a place where many of us come to socialize and enjoy nature, it also acts as something like a 'reception center'. It is a beautiful and peaceful place for all new 'arrivals' to first find themselves. Somewhere non-threatening, calming and healing to the soul which is vital if, as was sadly true in your case Dannell, the transition from life to death was particularly painful or traumatic."
Their 'escort' grinned and then said, " Also, don't quote me on this as it's just my personal theory, but I also have a hunch that someone among the Powers of Light must really like The Valley Song, hence the new arrivals 'coming too' in a meadow. If that's the real reason it happens that way and not the 'official' one then is fine by me as I love that song too. I'll teach it to you if you don't know it."
"I see Reena, well that all makes sense and I like your 'theory'. And yes, I do know the song, it's lovely and a favourite of mine." Mellisa replied.
Dannell smiled and said. "I don't so you can both teach it to me. So where do we go after this then Reena?"
She replied, "Come walk with me along the riverbank a little way while we talk and I'll tell you both a little bit more about this place." Then taking both their hands and with the children to either side of her she led them along bank by the crystal clear water, in which they could see silvery fish darting to and fro among the green weeds.
As they walked Reena turned to Dannell and said; "In reply to your question Dannell, let me ask you one, and you too Mellisa. Where would you like to go and what would you like to do next? You see the possibilities are almost literally infinite, how do you like to spend your time? What are your hobbies and interests, because here you can do virtually anything you wish, within reason. I myself liked to do a lot of sports activities when I was alive, I played soccer and liked to swim, so after I got here I spent quite a lot of time playing with a local team and going in for swimming competitions, learning to surf and such. I also love camping, climbing and hiking and we have lovely woods and hills to enjoy. There is nothing to stop you from indulging in many similar activities or other different pastimes. For instance if you are academically inclined study is also an option. You may do what you wish for as long as you like, for all eternity if that's what you want, but even here in 'heaven' there is some 'work' to be done, like my job. Even though it's not compulsory after a while most people eventually come round to deciding they want to do something helpful for others, as I did."
"By the way. Reena continued, "I was only just twelve when I died, but as you can see we do not have to remain the visible age we were when we 'crossed over'. We may appear any age we wish as up to what would be our 'earthly' one, which is just as well, as if I was stuck with my real age I'd look ancient by now!"
She giggled, as did Mellisa, who said, "Well that's a relief, I never really fancied getting loads of wrinkles.
Dannell nodded in agreement thinking to himself that Mellisa looked beautiful as she was. Then looking a little sad he asked Reena, "What about our loved ones, those we've left behind, will we be reunited with them when they get here?"
"Yes, of course, don't worry Dannell." Reena assured him. "Indeed I'm sure you must both be worried about their having seen you on TV dying in the way you did, I can help there too. Whilst a return to the Earthly 'plane' to directly say goodbye 'face to face' is not often granted everyone has the right and opportunity to visit their loved ones in their dreams and reassure them they are safe and free of all fear and pain. You're given a chance to tell them that you are happy and that you will see them again in due course. This is something I can aid both of you with, it is part of my duties and I will be happy to escort you both to Earth and help you to enter your loved one's dreams, it's one of those little 'powers' I have that I mentioned."
Both children thanked Reena profusely and then came a clever question from Mellisa, one that Dannell really wished he'd asked. She said, "Reena, will those horrible Games ever end? They've been going on for so long, so many decades and it is terribly unfair that the Districts are still punished and their children stolen and sent for slaughter because of something our ancestors did, even if it was ever justified in the first place, which I doubt."
Reena replied; "And you'd be right to doubt it too Mellisa, I was killed only a just over a decade after the rebellion was defeated and The Hunger Games first set up, and many of my older family members remembered the Dark Days and told us children the truth about them. There were certainly atrocities in that war on both sides, both the Capitol and the Districts were equally guilty of horrendous war crimes. But it was the Capitol's lust for power and it's greed for control of all the land and resources that caused the breakdown of Panem's society in the first place. It was not the District's fault and those 'Games' and their justification are a lie and an abomination. The 'history' that The Capitol has taught ever since they defeated the rebels is completely untrue, just a way to justify their degenerate blood-lust for the Games and to maintain their absolute power by fear. However, a great heroine and hero are coming soon and there will only be two further Hunger Games. There will soon be a second rebellion, which although sadly costly in lives will be victorious this time and will end the vile ritual of The Hunger Games for ever!"
"How do you know that?" Dannell asked her.
Here we are 'outside' time Dannell and this is something we know for certain, the Powers of Light have assured us of it." Reena replied and unconsciously fingered the lovely gold pendant she wore around her neck, one which Mellisa had been admiring since she first saw it.
She asked Reena what it was, saying, "That's lovely, what is it, only I saw several of the others wearing them back at the willows, what is the significance?"
"It is a Mockingjay and is the symbol of the rebellion that's to come. In particular, to begin with, it will be the Arena token of a girl called Katniss, she's the one who will spark the new rebellion and come to embody the mockingjay to all the people of the Districts. Many of us have taken to wearing this symbol in honor of her, of the sacrifices she will be forced to make, the many trials she will have to endure and her eventual triumph. It will be a hard road she and her beloved Peeta must travel, bless them, and sadly a great number of good people who will help them will be arriving here shortly." Their escort replied, looking a little sad.
Reena then smiled again, saying "Anyway you two, to happier things, first let me take you to the nearest village, it's just the other side of those woods, about half a mile or so's stroll, they have a fantastic ice cream stall there. Then we can go about finding you both a place to stay for a while to get over the traumas of those horrid 'Games'. I'd recommend a little holiday at the beach to start, or maybe somewhere nice in the hills, where it's green and cool. But there's no rush, you have all eternity to decide."
And the two District 3 ex-Tributes and their 'heavenly escort' headed off together hand in hand towards the green wood, from where the melodious sound of the mockingjays could be heard, singing their joyous songs. Soon within the wood three human voices could also be heard, joined together in a pretty melody about a meadow, one which the birds all took up in harmony.
For Dannell and Mellisa all was well.