Author's Note: I was recently thinking about The Hunger Games, and more precisely, Foxface. We learn very little about her. In this story I'd like to explore her character and play with Suzanne's work a bit. As always, Quendi owns nothing. This story is very AU. I have also given Foxface a name: Finch. I know, it is a very common name in the fandom. But I had to use it. Happy reading, I guess.
Chapter One: Uneventful
Finch knew almost right away that Peeta Mellark (District 12, 16 years old) had a plan in these Games too. From the second she had grabbed her bag and a small letter-opener styled knife, she realized there was only one way she had any chance of winning, and that was survival.
Okay, maybe she had known that from before. She could act like the Careers and kill everything in her path, but there were two reasons she wasn't going to do that.
Number one was the hard, honest, truth. She was not a killer. She would not let the Games turn her into a the "ideal Victor".
Number two was that she probably couldn't kill anything if she tried. She just wasn't built for it, nor did she have any idea how she would do it.
She had scratched these in the bark of the tree she was in. Maybe when the Gamemakers destroyed the arena they'd see it. Oh well. If she was going to die...
No, she ordered herself. Don't think like that. Her stomach rumbled. Yes, she had managed to scoop up water from the lake, but the only edible thing in the pack was a pack of crackers. They were wrapped in thin plastic with the Capitol seal on them. She could live on berries for now.
Sliding down from the tree, she left her pack on the upper branches. She could pick as she went.
There. She had found it. A bush that looked like those Capitol treats. What were they called? Cupcakes. Yes, like sprinkled cupcakes, a green bush covered in berries. She picked one, examined it. It was a raspberry, round, bright-ish pink. She had done well in the plant identification part of training. She popped it in her mouth and chewed. It was juicy.
Soon enough, Finch had fetched her backpack from the tree and was filling a small container with the berries. They were very good, yes, but she needed protein. She was dangerously close to the lake. She could steal from the Careers. It was going to get dark soon.
Boom.
A cannon. Another dead. Mentally, she noted this. Grabbing the half-empty water bottle, she sprinted towards the lake.