The trees seem to whisper to me as I run through wild woods of district twelve. My sunshine blonde hair whips around my face I stop dead in my tracks. Was I being followed? Who knows, there are no voices, no heavy breathing other than my own and surly if someone was chasing me they would have to catch their breath at some point. The only thing my mother taught me was that if I even heard a single twig snap to run for my life and that I did. I hear it again another twig, but this time it's louder, closer. If there's no sound- it has to be a wild animal. There deadly creatures, unseen by many people in the district. I turn around to come only a couple of feet away from a large bear like creature, it's eyes are far apart and it's claws look sharper than any knife I have ever seen. It growls, launching forward, without a second to realise what I'm doing I lift my bow and pull back the arrow, sending it flying into the bears heart; it falls with a thump at my feet. Was that really all it took to kill such a large creature? If only I could take the kill home with me, this would keep my family in food for a month but who knows how long it would keep for, or if it's poisonous. Nobody's ever tested these creatures before. I stand back, admiring my work; I must admit I'm getting better at archery. I just need a little bit more practice with a spear, but those are even harder to come by than a bow and arrow.
See, it's been exactly fifty four years since my grand-parents won the hunger games and ever since then, all of their children have been put into the games. My mother was one of them, she survived and ever since her brother died in the games all of my family have been trained. Secretly of course, seeing as it's illegal to train. So at some point in the next two years, I will be a tribute. There's almost no doubt about it now. I'm the eldest of three sisters; I hope it's me first. At least that way I might not have to watch Primrose and Bay die. The thought of my sister's dead causes my chest to clench, it hurts enough for it to show on my face but I stop myself. There not dead, there alive- at school but before I can give it much thought there's more noise and this time I know for definite it's not an animal, it's a low humming noise, a melody of some kind. I raise the bow, pulling the arrow behind my shoulder, ready to attack if I need too. I push my way through the wild overgrown plants and the thousand year old trees, staying completely silent. As I turn the last corner I expect to see a peacekeeper with a gun, instead there is a large wire fence buzzing and glowing with the amount of electricity it's producing. Sat on the opposite side of the fence is a young man, with dark brown hair which is stuck to his sun-kissed skin. He's propped up against a red brick wall his legs stretched out in front of him, his elbows against his knee caps. The boy looks relaxed as he leans his head back, lapping up the sun as he lets out a low soft moan. There are no wild plants on his side, no mammoth size tree's to block out the sun. The ground looks hard and dry, desert like.
"Who are you?" I shout over to him, was that the right thing to do? Probably not but I just can't help myself. If this really is the District end, who is that boy? Why's he on the other side of the fence. District thirteen was destroyed a long time ago and there aren't any trees so it can't be District eleven. He opens his eyes slowly, looking over to me, he lets out a low husky chuckle, his teeth are pearly white, and he has to be rich to be that clean right? But his clothes look worn down and they don't fit him right.
"That's not important, but I know who you are." He looks directly at me now, then at my bow. "You shoot that thing and it'll bounce right back to you so don't even bother." I frown, that's impossible, isn't it? I move away from my aim at his head and point up towards the sky, in the far distance. As the arrow flies through the air, it looks as though nothing can stop it but the boy was right it bounce back and lands on the floor with a slight clip as the wood splits in half.
"No you don't." I spit back, scowling at the boy. Who the hell does he think he is? Being so arrogant, he can't be a peacekeeper, he's not in uniform and peacekeepers are always in uniform everybody knows that. So what authority does he have on me to speak so rudely.
"Yes I do, You're Katniss." The noise that comes out of my mouth it somewhere between a harsh laugh and a snort. Of course, my grandmother- I could be her double there's only two ways to tell the difference, my hair is a light blonde where as hers was deep brown. My eyes are dark hazel where as hers where a bright blue. "Something funny?" He growls, standing up now, facing me, he's much taller than I am, maybe 6'0 compared to my petite size of 5'3.
"Yes actually, that's my grandmother, but thanks' for the compliment she was rather beautiful wasn't she?" I smirk; he rolls his eyes as he shakes his head.
"So you're Amelia?" He wonders, I pause for a second how on earth does he know so much about my family?
"No I'm Aven, Amelia's my mother." I tilt my head up a little bit, looking up at the cloudless sky. "What's your name?" I ask, I raise my eyebrows, slinging my bow over my shoulder. Was there any need for it at this point?
"Chaden." He blushes slightly, looking down to the ground like he's ashamed of his name. "So what are you doing so far away from home Aven?" He looks directly at me, I frown, I should ask him what is beyond the fence before I tell him why I'm here.
"What district are you from?" I ask, his face goes blank for a second but he soon speaks up.
"I'm from District Thirteen, why are you so far from home?" He repeats again, this boy clearly doesn't like talking about himself.
"I'm running." I don't comment on his district just yet. I must be imagining this, dreaming maybe or perhaps I've been stung by a tracker jacker but surly I'd have felt the sting and there would be an orange size lump on me by now, maybe it was lightly. Even so I would have been dead by now no matter how lightly I was stung.
"What are you running from?" Chaden asks, drinking out of his water bottle, my stomach clenches and my throat feels like it's on fire, how long had it been since I last had a drink? There was a stream twenty miles back but I didn't stop, I was tracking a turkey- I couldn't afford to stop.
"The reaping." I reply softly, he nods, understanding almost- it's tomorrow and although I couldn't actually run from it I could at least pretend. "I thought district thirteen was destroyed?" I say a little louder, so he can hear me.
"There building it back up, it's a surprise for the hunger games, District thirteen will be back and ready for a fight. They completely re-created the district." I listen carefully to him as I lean back on the tree, nodding along.
"There doing well to keep it a secret." I look up at the sky, it will be dark in a few hours and it's a long hike back home. "I best get going. Good luck with tomorrow Chaden." I smile to him, the first real smile to come from my lips in a long time.
I turn to walk away when I hear him call my name, I glance back to him. "If neither of us get chosen, meet me back here the day after next at noon." I nod, smiling at him once again. "Good luck Aven!"