Entry for FANDOMS UNITE. I have never read Hunger Games (shame on me, I know) but hey-ho, I'm giving this a go.
I am a massive sucker for Space AUs, so here it is.
Winter - 3020
Squatted in the shadows of the corner with the guise of working on ship maintenance, Peeta watched her train. Dressed from head to toe in a close-fitting, black, leathery spacesuit piped with red, she resembled one of the action heroines he'd seen depicted on advertisements. In her hand she held her laser, a finger resting patiently on the trigger. Her back was straight, her head held high, and her focus absolute. She was without question, a warrior.
The programme started and holograms attacked her from all sides, swift and agile. As always, however, she was faster. Every shot hit its target perfectly, fired all in rapid succession as she turned a full circle, executing the light within seconds. Today she'd forgotten to clip her hair up and so it hung down her back in a plait, which twirled behind her as she spun. It was a dance he'd watched her perform many times, but it never became less beautiful.
After an hour, not a minute more or less, her training regime drew to a close, the lights dimming. She turned on her heel, and for a moment Peeta thought she'd spotted him through the thick glass of the viewing window. It had been a stupid wish, however; someone like her would never see a lowly shiphand like him.
The door separating the two of them slid open with a quick suction noise, and with swift, confident steps she walked right past him, not glancing his way once. He remained in the shadows, watching after her, his chest tight and his heart hurting. It was painful, but for now he was content just to watch. Nothing more was possible.
Summer – 3016
Perched on the steps of his mother's bakery, located on the hellhole of a planet known as District 12, Peeta watched her with curiosity. A girl his age was storming out of her home, infuriated for some unknown reason. Her anger was obvious from her wrathful scowl, but she kept remarkably in control for a teenager. Head down, arms bent and rigid, she marched down the dirt street, passing right by him. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to be storming away from something, rather to something; stubbornly focusing on a task ahead.
His eyes followed her, staring down the street long after she had vanished. Eventually his mother snapped him out of the daydream, shouting for him to come perform some odd job for her. He obeyed quickly, but upon standing he glanced back one last time in hope of seeing the girl again.
By then, however, she was gone.
Summer – 3021
Sat at his table with the other shiphands in the ship's cafeteria, Peeta watched on with the rest of the gathered crew as the fight escalated. Two crew members, one a young adult male about Peeta's age, the other older with lanky blonde hair, had broken into a brawl. Their exchange of punches gathered quite the audience as they bumped into others' tables.
On the one hand the younger male had his youth and strength on his side. On the other, the blonde man seemed completely unaffected by any and all blows, and despite his haggard appearance he clearly was no stranger to fighting. Either way it didn't matter; all fights ended the same way aboard that ship.
A harmless warning shot was fired into the crowd, a red beam of light shooting across the hall, releasing an ear-splitting wailing sound. The audience scattered, scurrying back to their respective tables, but the two men continued to lash out at one another. It was only once she, Katniss Everdeen, the ship's best Tribute, pulled them apart that they relented, growing still.
"Catnip," the younger male protested in a whine, clearly acquainted with her. Peeta tried to ignore the slow envy that crept through him at their relationship, trying instead to focus on her.
"You're both going to detainment," she said in a no-nonsense sort of voice, completely ignoring the younger male's protests. Peeta would feel guilty about how smug that fact made him feel later.
With the rest of the ship watching, she dragged the two males off to be imprisoned in the ship's detainment facility, having no trouble managing the both of them. Peeta didn't think her disloyal for sentencing her friend, however. He knew that she was just doing what she had to in order to survive.
Summer - 3018
The random selection of colonists had everyone in uproar. The inhabitants of District 12 varied in their reactions to the news; the eldest just nodded in resignation, whilst the young grew angry and restless, and the children just looked tearful. Peeta did what he always did: look for Katniss.
He found her stood outside her house, hugging her mother and sister farewell. So she'd been chosen too. Peeta didn't care now that his name had been announced as one of the chosen colonists. So long as he had her with him, he'd always know where to look when he needed reassurance.
That morning, news had come that a colony ship was being sent off into the darkness in search of a new planet, seeking out fresh resources to supply the Capitol with. By what they were assured was a completely fair and random process, one-thousand members of District 12 had been chosen to board the ship and colonise this new, unknown world. They had no say in the matter of being uprooted from their home, for any rebellion was immediately crushed by the Peacekeepers.
When they were all gathered and loaded up onto the ship, they were informed that they'd all be assigned duties. Peeta knew that he'd be placed somewhere menial, where his skills with his hands could be of use, just like he knew what would become of Katniss. He'd seen her with a gun before, hunting out in the desert wastelands.
The enforcers of the law when Peacekeepers were otherwise occupied, Tributes were the trained killers of the universe. They were a symbol of obedience, justice, and the absolute preservation of the law. Unlike the Peacekeepers, they were chosen purely based on skill, so in theory even a lowly District 12 brat could become one.
Doubtlessly, Katniss would be entered in for Tribute training, a process that few survived and even less succeeded in. He didn't doubt her though. Even with a corrupt, crumbling government, and a life of barren poverty, he'd always believed in her.
Always would.
Winter – 3021
The colony ship was not a rich one. With strict rations and an even stricter working regime, anyone who couldn't work went hungry. People pulled twenty hour shifts, kept buzzed up on provided stimulants, just to feed their families. After three years aboard the ship, people were used to it. At the same time, however, they were also starting to realise they could get around it.
Three people had stolen from the ship's supplies; a crime never before committed. Peeta recognised them vaguely, a group of girls from a family of nine, all of whom worked down in the storage decks. It would have been easy for them to give into temptation and slip a few extra food portions to their loved ones, especially since their four youngest were not yet old enough to work. The only thing stopping them would have been the fear of punishment, a verdict that for stealing everyone knew. To rob the Capitol - which had provided so very generously and kindly for the citizens of District 12 - was punishable by death.
Knelt on the ground in the corridor where the Peacekeepers had caught up with them, the three girls were all sobbing violently, the youngest the most. Five Peacekeepers had arranged themselves in a circle around them, their helmets with their tinted visors obscuring their expressions entirely. They each held guns, white, sterile things that made you shiver if you looked at them too long. A large audience had gathered onoce again, but this time they were silent.
"Let me through," a voice ordered from behind the crowd. It was carefully controlled, sharpened to sound authoritative, yet Peeta knew it well enough to detect the tremble of fear. Katniss pushed through the crew, coming to stand before the Peacekeepers, her eyes glancing over briefly at the three knelt girls.
"Tribute, these three are to be executed," One of the peacekeepers informed her, their voice distorted by the helmet. Katniss raised her hand to the gun resting in her holster, but did not draw it.
"Stand aside," she said, and the Peacekeepers obeyed, dissolving back into the crowd to watch with the others.
Removing her gun from its hold, Katniss drew the weapon and aimed it at the youngest girl. She was a slight thing, with a pretty face and unusually healthy blonde hair that shone in the artificial lights. Everything else, Peeta had supported Katniss in, even though he'd never spoken a word to her. This though, he wasn't sure if he could watch, and yet he found he could not tear his eyes away. He regarded her instead of the girls, focusing on her expression, her eyes, her armed hand.
Maybe it was just because he was studying her quite so carefully that he noticed the flicker of his gaze, going sideways to meet the eyes of someone in the crowd. Peeta followed it, and found the young male who'd been fighting looking back. Beside him was the blonde man he'd fought, but they weren't squabbling this time. Although Peeta could not quite place what it was about them, they appeared to be united in something, their stance defiant, their shoulders back and body tensed.
Glancing around the rest of the crowd, Peeta noticed others with a similar standing. An older man who was unusually large around the middle for someone from District 12 was staring so intently at Katniss he seemed to be trying to will her to do something with his mind. Another, a girl, Peeta's age with red hair, was twitching impatiently, glancing around just as much as he was. When she caught his eyes, she grinned wickedly, and then Peeta knew what was going to happen before it even happened.
Five shots were fired, and the Peacekeepers all dropped to the ground. The three girls took a moment to stop sobbing, having screamed in terror at the sound of gun fire, but when they realised that they had not been shot they fell silent.
"Gale, go secure the helm," the ragged blonde man ordered, stepping forth and taking one of the peacekeeper's guns for himself, chucking another to the young man, Gale.
"Since when do you give the orders?" Gale asked, although he did so grinning. Those who weren't in on the plan were all staring at them in stunned shock, unmoving and unspeaking.
"Since we just started a rebellion. You lot," the blonde said, addressing their gaping audience, "go take out any Peacekeeper you can find, and take any weapons you can to defend yourself." No one moved. "Well come on, or we're all going to be killed."
After a delay of a few seconds, the braver members of the crew turned, and then broke into a run down the ship's corridors. Some then followed, whilst others remained, still not comprehending. Peeta stood there with the rest of them, not out of disbelief, but out of awe. He wanted nothing more than to join them, to fight with Katniss, but at the same time he was terrified. What if he screwed up.
"Come on," a voice said, interrupting his paranoia. He found a gun pushed into his chest, and then looked up from the floor at who was speaking to him. "You want to help right, Peeta?" Katniss asked. She was entirely serious, yet Peeta could detect a hint of a smile in her voice.
She knew his name.
"Yes," he answered breathlessly, "but I can't use a gun."
She smiled openly at that, half laughing. "I'll show you."