Rated T cause its the Hunger Games don't get too excited I don't think this is going to be a romance (although I could be wrong). All characters obvs belong to Suzanne Colins not me. Enjoy!

Johanna stood at the edge of the forest hidden in the thick trees surveying the river. She'd been here for two hours now watching the sky gradually lighten, still and silent becoming one with the forest. Then she spotted it, the wet brown fur of the beaver sliding out of the water. Before it had properly surfaced Johanna's axe was buried in its neck. She laughed emerging from the forest to claim her kill pulling the axe out, cleaning it, and hauling the carcass onto her back. Jogging at a steady pace, she rapidly dissected the pros and cons of the beaver. Fatty, so not much meat but the pelt what also fetch her a good price. Not bad for a mornings work. Normally she'd have continued up river into the deeper forest, killing squirrels and gathering berries and mushrooms. But this morning she had to hurry home so she could change out of her comfortable brown leather trousers and thick weave shirt in exchange for the same uncomfortable green dress she'd worn for her last five reapings. It hadn't been necessary to adjust it much, the seventeen year old Johanna was small for her age from malnourishment. Still she had it better than most people did in her district with herself, a nineteen year old and a sixteen-year-old brother all hunting and working in the forest. She also had a mother who was toughened by a life of hard work but still held down a job in paper production and took in mending from neighbours.

Johanna had been jogging steadily towards her house through the forest through by a route she had followed many times before, buried in her thoughts, when she suddenly felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She slowed her pace slightly looking about her but all could she see was green forest. Then out of nowhere, she almost ran into a boy with dark brown hair, the same eyes as Johanna and a cocky smile on his face. He held a couple of squirrels in his hand.

"If I was a peacekeeper you'd have been arrested by now." He chided Johanna grabbing the beaver and inspecting it. "Not bad."

"No, if you were a peacekeeper I would have buried this axe in your head by now." She grinned wickedly at her older brother, Olen.

"Ah but then you would have had body to deal with, what then?"

"I would have dragged the body to the river and let the tide take it away, no one misses a peacekeeper."

"Very good." He smiled and hauled her beaver onto his back starting to walk back to their cabin.

"Hey," She hurried after him. "You're not going to claim that you caught that are you?"

"Lets just say." He paused before taking off at a sprint and yelling over his shoulder. "Whoever gets home first can tell mum they caught it."

She growled annoyed but amused and ran after Olen. Her strong legs pounded into the forest floor and her blonde hair flew out behind her. As the clean filled her lungs she felt totally free.

"Mum," Johanna gasped leaning against the doorframe and breathing heavily. Her mother sat at the centre of the small kitchen at the rough wooden table her father had made before he was crushed under a tree that fell on him at work. A bag of mending was on the floor beside her but her pitted and scarred hands were running over the carcass of the beaver on the kitchen table. Her brother sat beside her and looked up to give Johanna a triumphant look.

"Johanna." Her mother did not look up from the beaver, still assessing the merits of the catch. "Your brother said he caught this by the river."

Johanna frowned annoyed but then she continued. "I do not believe him. You're the only person in this house who has the patience to catch it."

Johanna tried not to look too pleased and gave her brother a superior look but he smirked as if to say, maybe not this time but next time. Praise from their mother was hard earned but when they deserved it, she would let them know.

"Come on then beaver hunter," Onen joked. There were no hard feelings; her relationship with both of her brothers was this way: competitive with each other but protective against anyone who wasn't family. Johanna followed her brother up the creaking stairs at the side the kitchen. The upper floor was warped so the wood seemed to bend into waves like a river. Her brother had to stoop as he stepped into the room he shared with his other brother, Ash. But Johanna was small enough to enter her own room without ducking and once inside she started to strip of her layers of hunting clothes.

As the only girl she had her own bedroom which, however small, she never failed to appreciate. Johanna liked to be on her own, either in the forest or in her room. Her family provided her with all the human contact she required. For some reason she'd never clicked with any of the girls her age and never had a desire to. Maybe it was her brothers that led her to reject female company, or maybe it was the lack of common interests. Johanna didn't care to discuss boys, what dress they would get if they could afford it or which berries were best for making a lip stain. She'd honestly much rather be hunting for her family to make their lives better rather than sitting around dreaming about things they couldn't have.

Johanna slipped on a worn green dress and did up the line of buttons down the front, frowning a bit at the place where the hem had come undone. She looked at her reflection in the small cracked mirror that leant against the floor. She ran her blonde hair through her fingers trying to get it to lay flat and then held up the mirror to try to see the back of her head. A snicker from the doorway almost made her drop the mirror and she turned to see Ash laughing at this unusual display of girliness.

"Shut up." She growled at him as she pushed past him and hurried downstairs. It was almost time for the reaping. She couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear in her stomach and try as she might she couldn't stand still. This ordeal was almost over she reminded herself, one more year and I'm out. Two more years and her younger brother was out. But still, the cumulative system and the tessera she took ever year meant the odds were stacked high against her.

"Come here." Her mother had put down her mending with a sigh and gestured for Johanna to come sit down next to her. Johanna watched as her mother searched her sewing basket for a green thread and began to repair the hem on her dress. Johanna's leg was shaking involuntarily and her mother gave her a look in until she stopped.

"Johanna Mason-" But Johanna cut her off.

"I know what you're going to say, and it probably won't be me. I'm not scared." She held her chin up not wanting to appear weak. But it was as if her mother had read her thoughts.

"Fear is not a weakness. You'd be stupid if you weren't scared, and you're not stupid. What I was going to say was if you do get picked, and it might happen, you have a better chance than most."

Johanna stared at her wanting to believe it.

"You're a hunter, you know how to survive using the resources around you and you're clever." Her mother's eyes seemed to bore into her as she finished. "You will also be a killer if that's what it takes to get back to your family."

Johanna stared at her as she went back to sewing her hem up, thinking. Could I be a killer? The immediate reaction was no, but as she thought about her brothers, her mother and her forest she knew she would do whatever it took to return to them if she had to.

I have got a bit more written but if no one reviews it then I'll know not to bother. This is my first ever fanfiction story so be nice! But on the other hand constructive criticism would be very welcome as that will help me in my future writing. If anyone has any ideas about where they want this to go I'm open to suggestions, assuming anyone actually wants me to keep going :P