AN UNEXPECTED TURN

Hello there everyone! This is my first Hunger games fanfiction. This was spurred on by me reading several fics in this fandom. I am a big Cato fan and I think that they did the correct decision of casting Alexander Ludwig as Cato since he is just the perfect Cato for me and it helps that I am a fan of his since his The Dark Is Rising film. This fic is a combination of the book and the movie so I hope you understand if there are things in either of those that you were not able to see here.

Please read and review and I promise to reply to your questions no matter what they are!

CHAPTER 1: An Ordinary Day

I woke up to the sounds of the nets being pulled to the shore. It was an everyday occurrence and served as my own weird waking system. My father used to wake me at this time when I was younger so I can watch him as he and some of the men from our district gather the catch from the boats that sailed the night before. I loved it that my father would wake me up so we can share that time together since he always leaves a few minutes after to head to the hang lines where they gut the fish that were caught from the sea. It wouldn't be until later in the night that he would return home and he is always so tired whenever he returns that I did not have the heart to ask him to stay up longer and play with me. He may be busy but he makes sure that he has time for me. Though I loved that he takes me with him during those times, I always was uncomfortable with the happenings around me. His work, I can stand since all he does is pull a net full of fish or any sea-based animal that they were able to catch, but whenever I see a worker spear a fish or throw a harpoon, I can't help but feel a bit squeamish. My mother calls me her little pacifist and I pouted for days when I heard her call me that. I just can't stand those unnerving big eyes of the fish as they are killed and flapped their bodies on the spear they were stuck on. I always felt like they were staring at me and telling me to help them with those unblinking eyes. Ever since, I knew that that area of our district was not for me.

When I reached the age of eight, my bonding time with my father was replaced with the mandatory education that our district offers. My mother would lay out my clothes for the day and prepare our breakfast. My father would drop me to the Academy on his way to the hang lines and that has been my routine for a very long time. We learn different things at the District 4 Academy. There is mathematics, a bit of language, but most importantly (for the teachers anyway) were Capitol and District History along with District 4-Training. Capitol-District History is all about how the entire Capitol ad Districts were formed and of course the highlight of the subject is the Dark Days or more commonly known as the Age of Rebellion. They tell us how we were once under only one district named North- something, I never did bother to listen- and that a great tragedy fell that led to the decrease in supply of all produce. To make sure that produce keeps growing and circulating they divided the region and TA-DA here we are. Then they pull all the stops and tell us about a time that the Districts thought that they were being undermined and so they, well, rebelled against the Capitol. The rebellion was a failure and the Capitol was hurt that the people they cared for, the people they loved, would act against them, and thus the Capitol created the Hunger Games. A showdown to the death between 12 young men and 12 young women called Tributes where only one can remain. It is basically the Capitol's way of saying 'We can kill you but that would get our hands all bloody so we'll let you kill each other instead.' The Hunger Games is treated as a festivity that everyone dreads. To see a life you saw flourish with your own two eyes, a life that you have seen in your own district chosen so you can watch them die in the cruelest way possible. I have seen the Hunger Games a hand full of times, seen but not watched, I can't stand the sight of a fish dying what more if it is a person. During those times I would either be on the shores just letting the sound of the sea wash over me or I would be sitting down with Annie. Annie is my friend and I know for a fact that I am her only friend in the district. She was a victor of the Hunger Games where she was chosen as a Tribute. The Hunger Games she participated in was one of the few ones I was able to watch fully. I watched as she swam as fast as she could with all the other tributes and I watched as she saw her partner decapitated in front of her. I remember my mother rushing to me to cover my eyes as the events unfold but she was too late and the image of that decapitated male and the grief in Annie's face was forever etched in my young mind. She came back bringing glory to our district in the guise of food, money, and all those luxuries that only the Capitol would be able to give but all she received were sad stares when she returned to our District. Her games ended and so did a part of her. I heard the people calling her mad, saying that her sanity has left her. Truth be told, I believed them. Whenever I hear her name, an image of a girl who has lost all grips of reality comes into my mind. That was what I thought until I truly met her. I was thirteen when I officially met Annie.

Our district is the fishing district so water is abound. With plenty of water sources plants also tend to favour our district. Flowers, roots, and water-plants are commonly seen. I was collecting flowers that day. It was my mother's birthday and I was hoping to give her some flowers. The people of our district are not poor but not wealthy either so the meagre stuff I have with me can't be traded for anything worthwhile for my mother. I walked near the start of the Victor's Village, the place where all victors from District 4 resided. Everything there was lush and beautiful, clearly showing the elegance that can only be seen in the Capitol; though beautiful I can't help but feel that the entire place was shallow like a small puddle of water after the rain. Like all things in the village the flowers surrounding it were beautiful as well, something I can proudly give my mother. I was wary of the Peacekeepers there since I know that one wrong move from me no matter if I am young will result in me getting punished. It was when I was plucking some flowers that I heard someone softly calling. It was such a soft sound and I looked around to see where it came from. I saw her there in the most beautiful yard of the entire Village. It was filled with many different kind of flowers that I was hoping to get my mother but did not do so since we were not allowed anywhere near the Victor's Village unless we were family of the victors residing there. I was frozen; I do not know what to do. I knew her of course, everyone knows Annie Cresta. She was beckoning me to approach her. I did so with small steps, and I stopped when the Peacekeepers looked at me and began to walk to me. I looked at them and turned my scared eyes to Annie. The Peacekeepers followed my line of sight and saw Annie still calling me. They returned to their spots and I walked faster, thinking that being with a mad woman was better than being hauled off to a faraway place by the Peacekeepers. I hesitated when I was already in front of her yard, I did not know what to do, I was looking at the ground, the few small flowers I was able to pick were held tightly in my small hands. I felt her touch my chin and gently lifted my head so I can look at her. She smiled at me and took hold of my hand and led me to a small patch of flowers with various colours. She picked several white and pink flowers, several in full bloom and some just in the verge of it. She held it out to me and I hesitantly took them from her. She sat down and picked some more flowers and I watched as she carefully crafted each and every one of them. I watched as she bent the stems without breaking them, I looked as she carefully removed the leaves; I was transfixed as that group of flowers she picked turned to a small crown of flowers in front of my eyes. I was so fascinated with it that my fear of her slipped from my mind and before I can even think of it, words came stumbling out of my mouth.

"Wow! How did you do that?" I asked her. After I said the words I realized what I have done and I felt the blood rush to my face. I hesitantly looked at her and saw her smiling at me.

"Come here", she said to me patting the patch of grass beside her. I slowly walked towards her and sat on her side.

"Let me see those flowers you got." I gave her the flowers in my hands, the one she gave me and the ones I picked myself. She held my hand and together we created a small crown of flowers that she placed on my head once it was finished. From there my fear for her slowly diminished and we created crowns, bracelets, and necklaces from different kinds of flowers. The sun was setting when I said goodbye to her. I kissed her cheek and softly mumbled a goodbye but before I can leave she took my hand and I looked at her.

"What's your name?" she asked me in that soft voice of hers

"Ashlynn, Ashlynn Mendrose" I replied shyly.

She smiled at me once more and said "Goodbye Ashlynn."

"Goodbye and thank you Miss Annie!" I smiled and waved at her as I walk away with my armful of flowers.

My mother was so happy with the flowers I gave her. The following day I returned to the Village with a flower-crown made from the flowers near the shore. From then on, I always made a habit of sparing a few moments of my time to visit Annie. During my time with her I saw that she was not mad or insane as the others say. She was just broken. There were times when she would get this faraway look in her eyes and I know that she is reliving her time in the games whenever she gains that look. There were moments when the sound of the waves would get too loud and her entire body would turn rigid and I know that she remembers the time that she was swimming for her life. I don't know what to do during those times so I just stay there beside her and comb her hair as I wait for whatever it is she was thinking of to pass. It wasn't until two months later that I met another victor besides Annie. From all the time I have been staying with her I haven't been able to get even a glimpse of the other victors in the village, it has always been just the two of us and frankly I don't know how I would react if I met one. It was during one of our gardening times when I was helping her tend to the flowers when I saw them for the first and last time, Finnick and Mags. I was watering the flowers when I heard someone call for Annie. There I saw them walking towards us and I was suddenly flustered and I do not know what to do so I simply turned away my gaze and continued watering Annie's flowerbeds. I hear them greeting Annie, asking her what she did during the day, if she was alright and different things, making sure she was fine while they were away. I was content with just watering the plants and basically ignoring them. I know it may appear rude but I have always been the shy type, the one that everyone else would barely notice, the one more content to be in the background rather than on the spotlight. I was content on my little spot until they suddenly turned their attention on me.

"Now who do we have here?" I heard a male voice ask, Finnick then.

I turned to face them, to at least be polite with them. I can't help but fidget when I saw them look at me. Who wouldn't be, when two of the most famous victors of your District are staring at you?

"Finnick, don't scare the child now." There was Mags, the oldest Victor here in District 4. She has a kind face and I can't help but relax at the sight of her. She just looks like that grandmother who would dote on you.

"That's Ashlynn; she helps me with my flowers." Annie said to Finnick and that was that. I can't help but stare at him. Finnick Odair, probably the most famous Victor that our District has ever had. It was no wonder he's famous, he was good-looking and a definite fighter as seen in his games. He was everything a Tribute would want to be, especially a Career Tribute. That was one more thing with our district. District 4 was considered as one of the Career Districts along with Districts 1 and 2. When you say Career it means you were trained from childhood to participate in the Hunger Games. It is understandable that we are defined as such because of the District 4-Training class in the Academy, the difference between Districts 1, 2, and 4 is that we learn this things to survive the waves and not for the Hunger Games. We tend to a force that has its own life unlike the stones and jewels that 1 and 2 works with, we have to deal with the ever changing sea. There we were taught how to use spears, how to aim harpoons, how to make nets and everything we needed to know to survive the harsh life of the sea. It serves the dual purpose of preparing the children of our District for the unpredictable waves of the sea and the cruelty of the Games if they were ever reaped. I was passable at the classes but I was hardly exceptional. I got the entire posture and stance correct for the weapons but the pacifist in me, that part of me who feels uncomfortable with taking a life no matter if it is just a fish holds me back from being able to excel at it. During those classes though my form is near perfect the moment I throw the weapon handed to me , I feel hesitation causing the weapon to either miss the mark, stick lightly to the target, or worse not hit the target at all. I passed the class but I was never exceptional at it. On the other hand I can say that I am above average on the other skills such as making nets and fish-hooks. I am able to help my mother in that department. While my father is working in the hang lines my mother makes nets in our home. Once I got home from the academy I would help my mother twine some ropes to make the nets. It makes her work faster and the more nets she can make the better for us.

That was what I am about to do now. After eating breakfast and washing myself, I bid a quick goodbye to my mother and took off with the nets we made yesterday. I walked at a solid pace from my home to the hang lines where my father works. I would be visiting him later after I gave the nets to Old Man Kenyal. Old Man Kenyal is basically the oldest person in the district. He is already 89 and still able to gut fish. Due to his age and experience he was unanimously voted to be the head of the group of men working in the hang lines. I quite like Old Man Kenyal, with his old age there is a wisdom that you can barely find in most men and women these days. He may be old but he is one of the people I can truly say is close to me. This is saying much since I only have a handful of people I am close to, literally, my mother, my father, Annie, Old Man Kenyal, and his granddaughter Tara. The thing with Tara is people are scared of her. Old Man Kenyal always has Tara beside her ever since Tara was able to walk. Because of this Tara grew up with a tough and masculine point of view. She would often join her grandfather in gutting the fish once the Academy ends and would sometime help in pulling the nets which earned her some solid muscles that does not exactly look endearing on a girl. She once tried to help me get over my dislike of killing by asking me to help her catch some fish with her father. It ended up with me losing my entire breakfast on the boat we were riding when they speared an entire school of fish in quick succession. It is safe to say that I was never allowed in any fishing trip from then on. I hefted the nets my mother and I made on my shoulder greeting the men and women I pass by in the hang lines. I navigated the entire place with ease even if the bulk of the nets block my view of the path I'm taking. I got to Old Man Kenyal's door and nudged it with my foot since my arms were full with the amount of nets I am carrying.

"Need some help there, Ash?" Tara asked me as she opened the door.

"No, I got it." I replied as I placed the nets on the supplies table at the corner of the room.

"How are you Old Man Kenyal?" I greeted Tara's grandfather as I approached him and gave him a hug, a normal greeting between the two of us.

"Still kicking and gutting, Ash, still kicking and gutting." He replied to me good-naturedly as he always does when I see him.

"You seem to be replacing nets faster this time Gramps, you need some more?" I asked as I arranged the nets so that they don't end up getting tangled when they are grabbed later on.

"The fish are feistier this season, Ash, they put more of a fight now that the temperatures getting colder, all of them are trying to swim deeper now, so we better catch as much as we can." Old Man Kenyal replied as he gathered some ropes that were used in making the nets.

"So you will need some more?" I asked him as I turned around and faced them.

"Yes, good thing you and your mom are fast net-makers or else we would be running out of nets in no time." Old Man Kenyal said as he handed me some of the ropes and gave the bulk of it to Tara so she can help me carry it.

"You know me Gramps, I may be no fish-killer but I'm one hell of a net-knitter." I said flexing my biceps acting like I'm the toughest girl in the district. It would have been effective if Tara and Old Man Kenyal didn't laugh at me.

"Hey! I was being serious there, can't you see these muscles?" I asked them jokingly as I once more flexed my biceps in front of them.

"Pfft, I have more muscle on my fingers than you can ever have in those arms of yours Ash! Come on let's take this to your home before your stick-arms fall with the weight of those ropes." Tara said as she opened the door and led the way outside.

"Bye Gramps!" Tara and I shouted as we walked away from the room.

"Come on, Tara; let's get those metal balls from Dad so we can get started on these nets." I said to Tara as we navigated the wet floors of the building.

"You know you can lay off making these nets for today right?" Tara asked me.

"Why, I thought Gramps needed it fast? I still can't believe the amount of nets our fishermen need these days." I told her as we continued walking.

"No one would be working tomorrow. It's Reaping Day." Tara told me matter-of-factly.

My footsteps slowed for a second when I remembered that tomorrow two from our district would be chosen to participate in the Annual Hunger Games. One male and one female, one male and by any chance me and Tara.

"I forgot about that." I told her solemnly.

"Hey, what's with the frown?" Tara asked me.

"Do you ever think that the two of us could ever be chosen?" I asked her to answer her question.

"You and you're negative thoughts. We're 17 now Ash, we just have to get over this year's Reaping then survive next year's. After that we're free. Besides none has been chosen from our families ever since I doubt we would be the ones to break that cycle." She replied.

Seventeen, meaning we both have our name six times in the reaping ballot like the other seventeen year olds in the district.

"I hope you're right Tara." My mind can't help but linger on those dark thoughts that either of us could be reaped the next day. My mind was racing with every possibility that Tara or I will be the one to face off against 23 tributes all willing to kill just to survive the games. My mind was in a jumble until I felt Tara hit me in the head.

"OW, what was that for?!" I asked Tara as I rubbed the part of my head where she hit me.

"Your being pessimistic again, you're going to get wrinkles in that pretty face of yours!" Tara teased me as the gutting station came in sight. I walked faster when I saw my father place his hooks down so he can wipe the sweat that is forming on his face.

"Dad, I got the ropes!" I told him as we came within his hearing range. He hugged me and Tara then gave me a kiss on the forehead before he removed the gloves he was wearing.

"Wait a minute sweetie, I'll just get those metals okay." He told us as he rummaged through the supply box below the table where they were gutting the fish. He got up with 2 boxes of metal bearings that my mom and I would attach to the nets. Tara and I took a box each and bid goodbye to my Dad before we left the station and got on our way back to my home. We were silent the whole way, but not an uncomfortable one, it is a silence where you just both don't have anything to say and you both acknowledge that. It was not an awkward pause that new friends often found themselves in, it was a sort-of peace that you can only get from being silent with your friend. When we got home, my mom opened the door and asked Tara to stay for a while so she can have some meal before she goes back to Old Man Kenyal. The conversation at the table was easy going. The meal was filling though not exactly plenty or lavish, just enough for us. The conversation went from how Old Man Kenyal was doing to the cooling weather to the training at the academy and so on and so forth, basically anything my mother can think about. Though we would want to just continue talking, Tara needs to get back to the station to help her grandfather and so we bid her goodbye just as the sky was turning from blue to an orange hue. Once Tara left, my mother and I worked on tidying up our home. From cleaning the dishes to sweeping most of the sand settled on the floor, it was impossible to get rid of the sand, we live in District 4 it is basically a part of every person's home. Once we were finished with our household chores my mother and I settled down and started working on the nets.

I love these moments with my mother. Whenever we are just working, everything just slips away. All the worries, all the fears just vanish from our minds. All we have to think about was how to twine the ropes just the right way, how to fit the metal so that it won't slip away, simple matters that only need simple solutions. It was therapeutic, making nets with my mother. It has a way of letting me forget everything that is on my mind. Though District 4 is one of the richer districts and my family is able to eat every day, we still live in fear that the waves would not favour us. We never used that Capitol motto that you would often hear especially during the reapings and the games. May the odds be ever in your favour that is what they say but for us here in District 4 we always pray and hope that the sea be in our favour. It is just my luck that my father and mother do not work directly with the sea. But without the sea then what we do as a family, what we do as a district would all fall down. All other district may only worry about their lives when the games are about to begin but our district always live in fear that the next day the sea would no longer grace us with her blessings. We fear the wrath of the sea more than we ever fear the Capitol. But in these moments, these times when making sure the knots are tight and the holes just the right size, I can forget all about those worries, all that matters is we do our job right. My mother and I went through the entire length and amount of rope given to us till night fell. We only stopped when my father came and then we sat for supper like we do every night. No matter how late my father comes home we would always wait for him. That is one of our rules in the house, we may not be able to spend most of the time together but once supper comes we will all dine as a family to make up for the entire day when all we did was make sure there is food on the table. We work for our food during the day and we enjoy the fruits of our labour together once night comes. Once we finish our meal we all go do our assigned duty in the house. My mother cleaning the dishes and making sure we have something to eat for breakfast, my father gathering the tools we use in our work and storing them so we would know where to get them the following day, and I would sweep the floors till the sand is manageable and not likely to invade our noses later in the night. It was an ongoing routine in the house and we all fall seamlessly into it. After everything is done and we are sure that nothing is forgotten then it is time for us to finally rest for the day and embrace the warmth that only sleep could give.

That night I dreamed of children all trapped in a glass bowl, I was one of them. We were pounding the glass and pushing one another, all wanting to break free. Like a well-orchestrated group everyone began to scream. I looked up and I saw a hand, an unnaturally white hand tipped with nails the colour of which is an unnatural sickly green. It hang above us as if playing with us and it circulated above and the longer it stayed there the louder the screams get. And slowly it descended. It 's hands closing down and I felt fear like no other as that hand closed upon me and all I see is the darkness inside that palm. I was terrified and the next thing I knew the hand opened up placing me in another bowl, this one with significantly less children. I looked at them and I can't help but shiver in fear. All of them were faceless, all of them have no expression but I was certain that they were there to kill me, I was sure that all they wish for is my death. I was frozen to the spot watching as they walked towards me. I can't move and even if I did where would I run? We are all trapped here and as they start to get closer on me I woke up. I was breathing harshly, cold sweat decorating my neck and forehead. I tried to see what woke me up. Yesterday I woke to the sound of the nets being pulled to the shore. This time I awake to the sound of the strong winds that could only come from the Capitol's hovercraft. Yesterday was just a normal day for those in my District, for those here in District 4. But today, today is the Reaping Day, a moment that was just something I dreaded yesterday but is now very real and already within our midst. For the first time in years I prayed and I hoped that the odds be in my favour.

=END OF CHAPTER 1=