AN: I own nothing, except for Holly Persimmons and Vincent Medlar and anyone that was not in or mentioned in the Hunger Games series.
This may be slightly AU but since we don't know exactly what happened to District 12, I'm using creative license here. Work with me, people!
This probably will stay a speculative oneshot unless I really get an idea of how to continue it. I probably will, however, come back and edit this as I was too lazy to before I uploaded it.
Holly's POV
It was a little under twenty five years ago that District 12 was nearly flattened by the Capitol of Panem.
It was a little over twenty four years ago when my parents, along with my best friend Vincent Medlar's parents, were forced to move to District 12 from District 11. They weren't the only ones. Many people were forced to repopulate and rebuild District 12 after the bombing.
They were known as the Refugees, although it seemed strange to many to call them that as they were moving into the disaster zone. They were given training on how to build first, and once the District began to resemble anything livable, the mines were reopened and we were forgotten.
Well, not completely. Every year, even during Reconstruction as it was called, District 12 was required to turn in Tributes for the Hunger Games.
The Peacekeepers are always sure to tell us it's to remind us how we are always subject to the Capitol's rule. Always.
I think it's to punish us for someone else's crimes. Things we had nothing to do with and no control over.
Bitter? Why yes, I am.
Every day we go to school to have coal mining and Capitol propaganda shoved down our throats. We are told how puny our District is, how insignificant, and how we are only here because the Capitol lets us.
Every year we watch the Tributes from our District get killed either in the first couple of minutes or so tantalizingly close to the end. The years we lose early are form obvious lack of training; the years we get so close are by obvious manipulation of the arena by the Gamemakers to tug and pull on our heartstrings.
And it all started over twenty five years ago.
The year before the fateful Quarter Quell, when Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were the Tributes for District 12 and headed to the Capitol along with their mentor Haymitch Abernathy.
The year when they both won.
And we all lost.
Because the next near they went back again. The starcrossed lovers who were so into each other they couldn't bother to know what might happen if they failed at overthrowing the Capitol. What would happen if suddenly the Capitol had been made fools of again and again by one District until the others caught on.
We really don't know exactly what happened. Some say they made it out and are now in the ruins of District 13 while others say they were abducted by the Capitol and executed in secret or are still being held captive. But no one really cares anymore. We have more pressing matters.
Like living until tomorrow.
I blame them. They abandoned us. They threw us to Capitol and left us defenseless. They were our defense, and now they're gone.
Now we are subjected to watching the children of our District die every year. They have no mentor. They have nothing. All they have are whatever skills they naturally possess, which usually aren't much.
The Hunger Games are only chance to prove to the Capitol that District 12 cannot be kept in the ashes.
And the odds are never in our favor. They never will be.
*****
It is this twisted history that leads me to here.
Here happens to be a tree in the woods, as high up as I can get, as far away from District 12 as I can possibly be without actually leaving it.
Vincent is with me today. Apparently, probably twenty five years ago, the woods were off limits, but that was before everyone was required to have tracking chips put in. I think I probably would have to sneak into the woods if that were the way now, because there is no way my sanity could survive without these few hours of peace and simulated freedom. I think Vinny thinks so, too.
We come here so often that you would think that we would automatically notice any changes in this place, but the hollow in the trees looked natural, like one an owl would use. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first until we were leaving.
Vinny saw it first. "Holly, was the hollow there yesterday?"
I stopped walking. "Uh, no, I don't think so."
We exchanged glances and did the only thing any person with a reasonable amount of curiosity would do. We reached in the hollow.
On the outside it may look natural, but on the inside it was way to smooth to be naturally occurring.
Also, most hollows don't contain several letters and videotapes, either.
Together, Vinny and I looked towards the sky. The sun was setting, but we would about an hour before it was completely gone, so we sat down and read the first letter.
To whoever has the brains to find this:
I'm assuming you live in District 12 and that you probably need help. The whole District needs help, and you're probably one of the few people that can do something about it. I'm going to tell you how.
A Tribute needs to win the Hunger Games. A Tribute from District 12. Because they're the only ones who will get to have the District 12 mentor for the Quarter Quell. This year, there will be a mentor.
Before the Tributes leave, it will be you and this letter.
Once they get on the train, we are not sure who it will be, but there will be a mentor.
In the circumstances for the Quarter Quell, the Capitol is required to present a mentor, especially for this Quarter Quell. We can't tell you exactly why, because we are not sure ourselves, but there will be a mentor.
You're job is to make sure the two Tributes are prepared. Give them this letter, the videos, and make them practice with weapons. There should be some still in the woods if you look. There should at least be a set of bow and arrows in a hollowed log about two hundred feet from here to the south.
Please, please, listen to this and take it to heart. I tried my best twenty five years ago and failed. Don't let these tributes make the same mistake.
The Capitol will try and make the Tributes fail. That is punishment for my crimes. The Capitol needs to stop punishing District 12 and the only way they will is if they have to show the people of the Capitol what they did to it.
The people of the Capitol are its biggest weakness; tell the Tributes to exploit it in any way they can.
Stay focused and keep the Tributes focused on staying alive. That was my mistake. I thought I could rally the Tributes instead of having to kill them, and now you are all paying the consequence.
Please forgive me for my crimes; you would be the only one that will. Even my best friend, Gale, still knows it's my fault and even if he says he has forgiven me, he can't. Not until it's over.
So, please, try and make it over.
Once a Tribute has won, then they should start pulling on the Capitol's heartstrings. There will be more guidance from us after that.
Burn this letter after the Tributes read it.
~Katniss Everdeen
Vinny and I looked at each other. There was no way; she had been taken into custody by the Capitol, right? Or she was far away in the smoldering ruins of District 13? But everything kind of made sense in a strange way. The writer certainly sounded sincere.
"We should. . . We should do it," I said.
"What, help the Tributes? Well, no duh."
"No." I shook my head. "Be the Tributes. We could volunteer."
I saw the horror reach his eyes. "Holly, this was probably written by a sick person trying to mess with us."
"No one in the District has the tools to make a hollow this smooth. Besides, we can't exactly tell someone else about this; the Peacekeepers would hear."
"You're right." He sighed. "what are the videos?"
The first one said: 50th Hunger Games. Winner: Haymitch Abernathy.
"They never show any of the Quarter Quells, do they?" I asked. Vinny shook his head.
The next one said 74th Hunger Games. Winners: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
"They don't show that one either. And I bet the next one is-"
"The 75th?" Vinny guessed.
"Yep."
"Nope."
"What?" I asked confused.
"It doesn't have a label."
"I guess we'll just have to watch it then."
We stared at each other.
"Holly, you do realize that we're going into the arena, right?"
"No, I thought we were sending your dad's goat. Of course we're both going in!"
"Then only one of us is coming out."
Then I got it. My eyes watered and I wrapped my arms around Vinny.
Vinny and I hugged each other close and we silently vowed to do the one thing Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen refused to do.
We were giving up our friendship, and maybe even love, too, for the good of our families, our District, and all of the Districts of Panem.