Hello! My brother and I just came up with this idea today so I thought I'd write the first chapter and you all decide whether I should continue or not.
Just so you aren't confused, Everyone, including Prim thinks that Katniss and Peeta have died in the games the year before, but are they? I guess you'll just have to keep on reading the next chapters to find out for yourself!
Some of you know me for my first Katniss/Peeta fanfic: "Stay With Me', I'm not quite finished with that one yet but I will continue writing it, don't worry! I hope you like it!"
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or the characters, they all belong to Suzanne Collins.
~Chapter 1: Lost~
"Rory! Wait for me! Slow down!" I call laughing. Rory has been my best friend since we were like 8 or something. I stop running to catch my breath and plop down into the soft, tall yellow grass of the meadow.
My name is Primrose Everdeen but everyone just calls me Prim. I have one older sister, Katniss and then there's my mom. My dad died a few years ago in a mine explosion so I haven't seen much of my mom, she's still distant from me but things are getting better. Katniss hunts in the forbidden woods early every morning with her best friend Gale who is also Rory's older brother, I guess that's sort of how the two of us became friends, because our older siblings spent so much time together. I guess I should change the way I said that, she used to hunt in the woods every day with Gale. She was in the 74th Annual Hunger Games last year, along with the baker's boy, Peeta Mellark and they both died there. I still don't want to let myself believe that she's really gone but it's been almost a year, and in a few more weeks the 75th Annual Hunger Games will be taking place, oh joy.
Rory has two younger siblings, Vick is 12 and Posy is 8, they are pretty much like my own brothers and sisters since I only have Katniss.
Everyone thinks that Rory and I are a couple or something, but he's just like the brother I never had, plus we've been best friends for too long to get all romantic, that would just be weird, and I'm pretty sure that Rory thinks of me only as a sister. Our birthdays are only a few months apart in the spring so we are now both 14.
"Couldn't keep up with me huh?" Rory smirks as he lies down on his back beside me. His longish dark brown hair is wet with sweat and sticking up in every direction, I hold in the urge to burst out laughing, but knowing Rory he wouldn't like me making fun of his looks, he's ego is quite large, just like his older brother. I have to admit though, he is quite the looker, I can see how the girls at school look at him. I'm pretty normal looking except I look more like a townie than a girl from the seam. Katniss and the Hawthornes definitely belong here in the Seam with their olive colored skin and dark hair and grey eyes. My hair is golden blond, long and wavy but I usually keep it in braids.
My eyes are a plain blue, I would much rather have Katniss's looks and eyes but she tells me everyday how beautiful I am, so I just stopped wishing.
"I just needed a short break." I reply to his question.
"Suuure." He smirks again, looking just like his older brother in the process, and locks his hands together behind his head as he squints his eyes up while looking into the bright blue sky.
"You miss her?" It's more of a statement then a question. I nod slowly nod my head up and down, and lie down next to him, letting my face soak up the warm sun. I hold my breath, trying not to let the tears fall.
"I'm so sorry Prim." He says, with genuine sympathy in his voice, then scoots closer to me and puts one of his arms around my shoulders.
"Thanks Rory." I whisper. We stay like that for a while until I remember the real reason we came to the meadow.
"I have to get those herbs to mother before it gets late!"
"Calm down!" He chuckles slightly. "We'll find them in no time with the two of us working together."
"You're the best Rory!" I giggle and give him a hug then stand up and pull him up with me.
"Yes, I know." He replies smugly.
"Shut up!" I say, still laughing and push him in the chest. He staggers back a little but regains his footing in time.
"Oooh! You are so gonna get it!" He growls playfully and starts coming after me. I'm not tired one bit anymore and sprint off, running as fast as my legs will let me. I don't know why I ever run away from Rory, he recently went through a growth spurt and is now way taller than me. It only takes a few seconds for him to catch up with me, he grabs my hand while passing and pulls me along with him.
"I can't run as fast as you, slow down or you'll end up dragging me behind you!" I yell at him. He doesn't answer but does slow down a bit.
We tromp further and further into the forest, our eyes wide open, searching for the correct plants that hold the leaves my mother uses for healing all different kinds of illnesses and diseases, and pretty much everything. Gale has been teaching Rory how to shoot with a bow and arrow so no whenever we are out in the woods alone he always has it strapped on to his back, just in case.
"Here's one!" I say triumphantly, pointing to a cluster of plants directly in the middle of our path.
"Good work Prim. Just pick as much as your mom needs then we can put them in my bag until you get home."
"Okay." I say and bend down and begin picking the leaves off of the plant and handing them Rory. "That should be enough for now." I tell him after a few minutes of picking, the plant is almost bare now anyway.
After about an hour of picking leaves the sun has gone down a considerable amount, I can barely see a yard in front of me.
"We'd better start heading back if we don't want to stay the night out here." Rory mentions wisely.
"Sure Rory, I'm about finished anyways. Let's go." I take his hand and we turn back the way we came. We walk without stopping for a half an hour and we still haven't come to the meadow yet.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I whisper.
"I think so. Don't worry Prim, if we don't make it back soon Gale will come looking for us." This does little to comfort me but I keep my mouth shut and just grip his hand tighter. The trees start becoming closer and closer together, and I'm quite sure that I've never been in this part of the woods before.
"I don't recognize this, do you Rory?" I ask him quietly.
"I'm not sure." His body is tensed beside mine, and I can tell that he's worried about not getting me home safe tonight.
"We'll be okay." I assure him. He gives me a small smile that I can barely make out in the twilight. We're still trudging through the dense piles of leaves and dried stick when the moon comes out, and I still don't recognize any of our surroundings.
"I hope Mother doesn't get worried." I say, mostly to myself.
"She'll probably end up going over to my house then they'll most likely send Gale out to look for us."
"Yeah, probably."
Just then a raindrop lands on my nose, startling me.
"It's beginning to rain, lets hurry." Rory says and starts pulling me along, faster. Soon the rain is coming down in torrents and we are both drenched right down to the bone. Rory put his arm around me, trying to shield me from the wind and rain, it doesn't really help, but I don't tell him that.
Suddenly a flash of lightning shoots down and hits a tree only a few yards away from us. I let out a scream and Rory starts running faster, if that is even possible. I hear a crash but don't look back, but then we both start coughing from smoke and I look behind me and one of the trees that was struck by lightning has erupted into flames; flames that are coming closer and closer to us, lapping at our heals.
"Come on!" Rory urges me. My lungs are burning from breathing in the smoke and my legs feel like they are going to fall off, but I don't stop.
A little while later the fire stops and the air is clearer and cleaner.
"We made it." Rory pants, putting his hands on his knees, bending over trying to catch his breath, I do the same. Once I can breathe normally again I look around us, then a smile creeps up onto my face. We're standing in our meadow, safe and sound, for now.
Hand in hand we make our way to the weak spot in the fence that Katniss and Gale first found. Rory is just about to lift the bottom up for me to slide under, when the unmistakable sound of power running through the lines reaches our ears.
"What?!" He says in disbelief. "The fence hasn't been turned on in ages! Why now?"
"It's okay, I'm sure it'll be back off tomorrow, lets find some place to spend the night." He nods and takes my hand again. We end up walking silently to Katniss's and Gale's secret cave that they showed us not that long ago, they only used it on days like this when the fence had been turned on and they were stuck out in the woods over night.
"We may as well make ourselves comfortable for the night." I say. "Yeah. Come sit next to me, you're freezing." I hadn't noticed until now that my teeth are chattering and my whole body is shaking from the cold.
"We need to get you out of you wet clothes." He tells me, taking on his serious, grown up like voice.
"Uh Rory, I'm not going to spend the night in my underwear." He smirks and hands me an old blanket, but at least it's dry.
"Here, you can wrap yourself up in this."
"Thanks. Now turn around." He does so and I quickly change out of my dress. I usually wear pants to the woods but we weren't hunting, just going to pick herbs so I didn't think I needed to change. When I'm wrapped up securely in the blanket I glance over at Rory.
"You're going to need to change too or you could get sick."
"I will, don't worry." I cover my head with the blanket while he changes the take it off when I feel him sitting next to me, also wrapped up in a blanket. Our clothes hang on the low ceiling from a few hooks that were left here probably for that purpose.
"Good night Prim." Rory whispers and kisses my wet head.
"Night Rory." And with that I drift off to sleep on the hard rocky floor as my bed and Rory's arm for a pillow.
Well, what did you think of the first chapter? If I can get ten reviews I'll make the next one even longer! I hope you liked it! If people like it then I'll probably update 2-3 times a week because I have my other story to update as well
Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review!