The first to go was Sandy. Sweet, pure Sandy. Why is it that the first thing humans forget are their dreams? As soon as fear creeps in, their worry swallows up their beautiful dreams; the nightmares consume them.
Tooth wasn't far behind. Unfortunately when dreams of the future go down the drain, the fear of the present soon buries the glimmering memories of the golden years long past.
With two guardians down in the first onslaught, the others were hard pressed to fight back. Indeed, now that Pitch had teamed up with Mother Nature, they were quite the force to be reckoned with. In the battles that ensued, the damages were so great that the Earth wasn't anything like it had been before. Earthquakes, avalanches, tidal waves, and all manner of natural disasters caused by their battles had done more to destroy it than protect it. After the hundred year battle between them had ended, Pitch retreated into hiding and Mother Nature had agreed to go back to her previous role of giving life rather than taking it, assured by the guardians that she would no doubt be appreciated by the humans now. They convinced her that with the current population, they could no longer abuse her with their pollution and destruction, at least not with as large a magnitude as they had back in the twenty-ninth century, when Pitch had convinced her to fight back.
Land masses were greatly reduced in size, and the remnant of the human population gathered together to rebuild in what had once been North America. The remaining guardians tried to help, but in the aftermath of such a war, they were too weak. The humans had not only dwindled in population, but their faith had also subsided. In a world that was so desolate, North didn't stand a chance. There was no wonder left in a reddened world of sorrow and ash.
For awhile, it seemed that Bunnymund would be the only guardian to survive the hundred year war, as the humans had begun to hope again, but there still wasn't much room for fun. Jack was sustained only by the youngest of the children who still dared to laugh and be merry, though they all grew up too soon in the harsh conditions they lived in. It was enough to scrape by on for a few hundred years, and by that time the population and the spirit of fun had rekindled significantly... but so had fear.
The people had formed a government, but some sinister people in the capitol had, over the years, corrupted it and began to oppress the thirteen districts that supported it. You should've seen Bunnymund - he was so valiant and strong, working to keep the spirits of hope up among the people. Perhaps he had done his job TOO well, for this hope triggered a spark of a rebellion... a rebellion that soon flickered and ignited an all out war.
Unbeknownst to Jack and Bunnymund, Pitch had not been idle, and all too late they realized that he now held a great power among the humans. With his help, the rebellion was squelched, an entire district obliterated, and hope killed.
Bunnymund's death hit Jack so hard, he wished he too, were dead. His hope, like the humans', was now gone. He was now the last of the guardians, in a world where nightmares prevailed, memories plagued, emotions were dulled, hope was a four-letter word, and fun was unthinkable.
How could this have happened? How did Pitch get so powerful? Jack realized the answer when he was playing amongst the very small children in the capitol city square. The capitol children had been the most sheltered from the horrors of the rebellion, and the youngest among them were the only ones sustaining him still.
The children and their families had been gathered for a special announcement from a prominent capitol official concerning the end of the rebel war. It had ended about six months ago, and the big wigs of the government had been drafting up all sorts of new laws to 'deal' with the districts in the aftermath. Jack expected it to be quite boring, so he didn't even bother to listen when the speaker introduced himself and began his long speech.
After awhile more playing with the kids, Jack began to notice that even they became enraptured with the presenter. Perhaps it was because he was so young, or maybe because he delivered his talk with such gusto, but whatever the case, even Jack had to start paying attention. As the young speaker gave a long list of bylaws and proclamations, his identity slowly became apparent to Jack - probably with the help of the Man in the Moon, who had been weakened by Mother Nature, but still did his best to whisper to the guardians what he knew.
Pitch had taken on a human form. He was somehow one with the speaker addressing the crowd now. Everything about his manner and appearance mocked the guardians. His hair was a sandy blond color, the same color as the dream sand. His incisors were long and pointy, like a vampire's. Jack would later find out that this was how Pitch inhabited a human body - by drinking the blood of other humans. As he continued to talk, his lips would get in the way of these and they would start to bleed and swell - Tooth would've been horrified. His clothes were a blatant mockery of North's creativity and wonder. They were hideous, to put it gently. Bright colors and clashing patterns with bizarre style didn't just stop at the clothes. Even his body was abused and made up to 'match' his outfit. Jack hoped he wouldn't be setting any fashion trends, or the whole of the capitol would look like freaks instead of normal human beings in the coming years. He talked of hope and springtime, telling the crowd that he wanted to be a 'rose' for the people, blossoming up in the spring after a harsh winter and spreading his delicate fragrance to all the people. If Bunnymund were here right now, this speaker would have a boomerang in his mouth for such blasphemy.
As the realization of the official's identity began to dawn on Jack, he had to wonder why Pitch had chosen so small a form. The speaker was still a child by his standards. Although, in such a world, most children were put to work by the age of eight. This official couldn't be more than sixteen, but he spoke with such eloquence and authority that the people were eating it right up. By the end, he had almost forgotten that this was a child's form; so when he brought up the subject of games, Jack was stunned. The rest of the crowd seemed to have also forgotten this was a child, but soon overcame their surprise and chuckled at the thought of this mysterious game the child wanted to now present. The amusement quickly faded as he explained the 'game', however, and solemnity took over as the ramifications of its rules sunk in.
"In penance for their uprising, each district shall offer up a male and female between the ages of twelve and eighteen at a public reaping. These tributes shall be delivered to the custody of the Capitol and then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains."
Jack nearly doubled over at the horror of it, and for once he was glad that nearly no one believed in him, for he didn't want to be seen in such a state. Yet despite his wishes, a terrifying thing happened. The speaker looked directly at him - right into his eyes - and Jack knew he could see him. With a fiery gaze that could melt even Jack's frost, the speaker concluded, "Henceforth and forevermore, this pageant shall be known as 'The Hunger Games'."
If Jack wasn't thoroughly convinced that this kid was really Pitch in disguise, he was now. Pitch had already defeated dreams, memories, wonder, and hope, and now he was making a direct assault on fun... on Jack. Jack fought against the urge to hyperventilate; his heart had skipped a few beats and such heavy, strained breaths certainly wouldn't help. With as much courage as he could muster, Jack returned the intent gaze of the speaker, determined not to let Pitch get the best of him. Pitch had mocked every single one of his friends, and was trying to mock Jack now with the announcement of the 'game', but Jack wouldn't let this official get the best of him. His resolve held rather admirably, until the speaker spoke up one last time to say...
"Thank you all for your attention and patience. Again my title is Mayor Coriolanus Snow, and I hope you won't hesitate to come to me with any questions; I would be most glad to aid you."
The impact of his words hit Jack like an arrow to the heart. Pitch was now mocking him with his very name.
Author's Note: Please let me know what you think. This was an idea I had and I wanted to get this prologue out there to get a feel for the interest, to see if I should expand upon this idea and make it a full fledged story. If it gets a good response, I'll continue it with the premise outlined in the summary. If not, well, I had fun writing this prologue, and I hope you at least enjoyed reading this far :)
Edit: Thank you all for the positive response! I -have- decided that I'd like to continue this, but there's been a lot of chaos in my life that's preventing me from taking the time I need to expand upon this story idea and put something post-worthy together. I will be updating my tumblr with any further updates on my progress. once again, thanks for your support! I did not expect such enthusiasm!
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For updates on this and other stories, behind-the-scenes, Q&A, and general fangirling, check out my tumblr: zepuka DOT tumblr DOT com