Disclaimer: I own very little.

Chapter One: The Truth

Even in the darkest of days,
Light is found,
Dimness vanquished,
And hope restored.

I am not a rebellious person, please understand that. Or, at least, I didn't originally want to be one. You see, I was the weird one when I was little. Yeah, the little Savera Stone (I suppose the official name is still Crane), a complete intellect, is still who I am to this day. Honestly. It's just that, that time in between the Games and my search to avenge my husband's death was not… particularly easy for me, and I was forced to act under the circumstances that were given to me. I would have much rather been holed up in my home, tinkering with the inventions that I used to make as a child. However, said circumstances, prevented me from doing such. In that time frame, from my childhood to leaving the Capitol illegally, I had been reaped into the Hunger Games, won by pure chance, fallen in love with a Gamemaker, become a vital member of the Capitol's Intelligence, become pregnant with a child, and lost my husband to the same relentless man who had ruined my life in the first place. To top this all off, I was left with no other option but to flee from the Capitol in possibly one of my riskiest endeavors yet.

Correction: my riskiest endeavor yet. There was no "possibly" about it.

The wilderness of Panem, outside of the Capitol, was like nothing I had ever seen before. The beauty of the trees, the fresh air, the mountains, and the wildlife was phenomenal. Had I not been scared every step of the way for, not only my life, but the life of everyone else in our troupe, then I probably would have been enjoying myself.

Our group consisted of six of us: Tomas, Layla (aka Crystal), Steele, Ostro, Obadiah, and I. Initially, our personalities meshed very well together since we all shared a common goal of getting out of the Capitol unscathed. From the beginning, our chance of success appeared to be very high. The Capitol's security and intelligence rested more heavily upon my shoulders than they would have liked to let on. It's for this reason that when I fled, their reaction was very delayed. Thanks to the distraction posed by Ostro and my absence, the response time was incredibly delayed. I could only imagine how infuriated President Snow was going to be when he discovered this. However, he had to be careful about his rage seeing as it was a celebratory time in the Capitol. He certainly wouldn't want to draw away from the attention the victors were receiving. Or perhaps, he would want to draw attention away from them seeing as they had started riots and a potential uprising against the Capitol.

Either way, it would be interesting to see his response. In all honesty, I was surprised this escape had gone as flawless as it had.

"We're going to set up camp here," Ostro, my brother, whom I hadn't seen in many months, mentioned as he pulled the lime green trench coat from his shoulders and threw it over a tree branch, clearly glad to be rid of it. After doing so, he made his way toward the river that lay several yards from where our camp was going to be set. I gazed around to see that we were far out of sight from the Capitol, deep in the mountains of Panem's wilderness. The crispness of the air and beauty of the trees was incomparable to anything I had seen before, but I was unable to appreciate it for its beauty as my mind was elsewhere. Essentially, we were at the bottom of a ridge. There was a flowing river running just feet from where he had stopped and above us was a steep climb, but it was nothing compared to what I could see us climbing in the future. Adrenaline, thus far, had made me forget just how heavy my son was on my back and it was at this point, with the sun setting, that I crouched down to let him off of my back.

Immediately, I heard a yawn escape his lips and when I turned to look at him, I crouched down to his level," Obie, we are going to stay here for the night. You stay where mommy can see you, okay?"

Stifling another yawn, he nodded sleepily before sliding his hand through mine as the others began to set up an impromptu camp. I helped all that I could with gathering wood and putting together the less-than-luxurious tent Layla had stored in her bag. There were two that she had been able to smuggle in with her. No one said much of anything, but rather built the camp in silence. It was eerie to say the least, seeing as I still had many questions that needed answers. To top it all off, I wasn't in the most stable mental state. Had Layla not dragged me out of the Capitol building, I would have probably still been sitting there in shock.

After the camp was set up as best as it was going to be, Ostro came up from the river, nearly drenched in water, a stack of fish piled on a spear he had apparently crafted. He handed the spear to Tomas," Would you mind preparing these?"

Steele had just finished stoking the fire as he said this. The look on Tomas's face showed that he was less than pleased to be assigned the job of cook. He furrowed his brow and shot my brother a dirty look before taking the spear and plopping down on a log beside the fire to begin cooking them. Layla and Steele offered their help as well. Ostro looked at me.

"I think we need to talk," He said softly, looking at me.

I nodded, stepping toward him, but as I did, he looked down at Obadiah," Why don't you leave him here?"

I shot him a look of horror, scared of leaving him out of my sight. Layla could tell by my reaction that I was a little spooked by this thought and it was for this reason that she approached Obie and offered her hand to him," Why don't you come with me, big guy? Mommy needs to go talk with your Uncle Ostro."

I looked down at him, my grasp still tight on his little hand. I forced myself to let go of his head and forced a smile on my lips to reassure him that it was okay for him to go. He knew Crystal, of course, and finally went to her after I let go. He waved at me as I turned to go with my brother, back down toward the river.

At first, there was nothing but silence as we walked. In fact, neither of us said anything, until we reached the riverbed and found a large rock over the flowing river with white rapids. He climbed to the top first, then looked back to help me. When I pulled myself up next to him, I could feel his eyes on me.

"He's gone, Ostro," I whispered to him, pulling my feet and wrapping my arms around them.

Ostro grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight," Savera, I-"

"I can't believe it actually happened. Snow always warned me, but I didn't think the day would actually come," I whispered, shaking my head as I rested my chin on my knees. My voice was clearly shaky and unstable as I continued on. "He didn't deserve to die, Ostro, he just wanted to make a difference and went too far."

"Savera, he-"

"I know I shouldn't have fallen in love with him, Ostro. It was stupid in the first place, but I really shouldn't have let him take the position as Head Gamemaker; he offered not to take it and-"

"Savera, I tried to save him," Ostro finally told me, looking straight into my eyes. He kept his hand in mine. "I tried, but by the time I got there…he was already gone. You need to know that though. You also need to know that there was no shame in what he did. In fact, he accomplished precisely what he was assigned to do. All this time, he has been working with the rebels from District Thirteen."

I blinked several times, fighting back the tears that were forming," W-what?"

"Before mother and I fled the night of your wedding, he told us precisely where to go. It has taken me all this time, but I was able to locate District Thirteen and organize a party to come to your rescue. He essentially saved, not only mine, but also mother's life. She's safe back in Thirteen. But Savera, Seneca loved you so much that he made me swear that I would come and get you out of the Capitol as soon as he was gone. We've been planning this for weeks now. In fact, part of the security breach this time was thanks to Seneca being able to shut off his section of the Capitol's intelligence branch when he was taken away," Ostro explained, as I focused my eyes on the rolling water, trying to process all that he said.

"Ostro, District 13 is in rubble."

Immediately, my brother rolled up his sleeve to show me something tattooed on his forearm. I stared at it in disbelief, wondering what it was. Apparently, it was some sort of schedule on his arm. I looked at him, searching for an answer.

"What is-"

"It's a schedule. It's everything that I'm supposed to do at every minute in District Thirteen. Savera, they were never destroyed. They were just silenced. They were forced to keep quiet by the Capitol. Honestly, the Capitol is scared of what they could do. You know what District Thirteen produced when they were still around, right?" He asked me, looking straight into my eyes.

I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what I had read," Was it some sort of weaponry? Nuclear missiles, right?"

"Yes. They were a threat to the Capitol. Long story short, the Capitol wanted to keep them silent so they wouldn't destroy them. A non-aggression pact sent District Thirteen underground while the Capitol continued ruling the other districts, making the others believe that Thirteen had been destroyed. I don't expect you to believe it until you see it, but you should be told now before we get there," He explained, keeping a grip on my hand.

I took a deep breath in," I don't know how to respond. Honestly, right now, it's just…I just need time to mourn and realize what's-"

"That's the problem, Savera. We don't have time for that. You realize that war could break out between District Thirteen and the Capitol at any time thanks to the new victors of the Hunger Games. Thirteen sees this as the perfect opportunity to strike. We have to get back there before they start, otherwise we could be stuck in the crossfire. With Obadiah, I don't think you want to be stuck out here," He explained quickly. "I know it's not easy and I don't expect you to be completely healed, but you need to know that we won't be stopping for many breaks."

I nodded slowly, attempting to realize the severity of the situation. It was just so hard to process all of this in such a short period of time. There was obviously no time for processing, but I wished that there was. I sat there for many moments, just thinking before I finally looked back to my brother.

"You tried to save him?" I asked, just to confirm my husband's fate.

He swallowed hard, hesitating to speak," Yes. I did try."

"And he was definitely dead?" I asked, wanting to confirm this without a doubt.

Once again, he paused before looking straight at me and nodding," Yes, he was."

And that was all I needed to know. I buried my head in my arms and let this reality sink in all over again. I tried to swallow back the tears once more, but this time they flowed out faster than I could hold them in. I felt my brother's arms around me as he held me close to him and kissed my head. I never cried harder in my life than I did sitting there next to him.

"Ostro, what am I going to do?" I blubbered, trying to come to terms with this reality. "How am I going to raise Obadiah without a father? How am I going to explain that to him?"

He smoothed my hair with his hand before whispering," You're going to be fine, Savera. He-"

It was almost as though he had no words for me for that moment. Finally, he spoke to me.

"You're going to find someone for Obadiah. For now, he has the five of us to be there for him. We can be his family for now," He whispered, as I rested my head on his chest.

"Ostro, I'm so glad you're here," I sobbed, remembering the fear I held for so many months, thinking he was dead. "I thought you were dead for so long."

He continued to smooth my hair before he said," That doesn't matter now, okay? We're going to get you to safety. I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

My life so far had been filled with loss. From Titus, my brother who had died in the Games, to my father and finally to Seneca, there weren't many constants that I could rely on, but Ostro was one of them. He always kept his word and even in those months when I thought he was gone, he still managed to do what he said he would: find District Thirteen. And though I couldn't appreciate it then, it made me love Seneca that much more for telling Ostro where to go. He had clearly wanted to keep my brother and mother safe, but more importantly he wished to keep his son and I safe.

I sat there with my brother for seemingly forever. Being held in his grasp was the only place I really felt safe. My emotions were spinning so quickly that I could hardly process all that my brother had told me. It would have been overwhelming enough to just see him alive again, but the combination of everything was a lot to process, to put it lightly.

"Will you look at something for me?" Ostro asked, after several moments of silence. I pulled my head up to look back at the camp where a fire was, now blazing, as they enjoyed their dinner. The sight was almost happy, if it were under different circumstances. "Do you see your son over there?"

I settled my eyes on the two- year old boy who had made friends with Tomas and Steele quickly. Already, the little boy was smiling as he sat on the lap of Steele, cackling as the man told him something that must have been hilarious. I had to smile at the sight of him showing so much joy.

"Yes, I do," I answered, simply.

"I know you know this, but he needs you now more than ever. He needs you to be strong; he needs you to be un-phased by this, do you understand?" Ostro asked me seriously, once more demanding my gaze.

I shook my head slightly," He has to learn of his father's death at some point, Ostro. I can't just never tell him what happened and pretend like everything is totally fine."

"You're missing what I'm saying," He said softly, pointing to the little boy. "He's young enough to where he quite possibly would never have to experience the pain of losing his father-"

"Are you insinuating that I never say anything?" I asked harshly, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Savera, if you move on with your life, then he's going to follow in your footsteps. He will adapt to anything at this age. Just keep your eyes open, that's all I'm asking. At this age, he just needs someone to take care of him, but if you introduce a male role model now…then he will never understand the full extent of the heartache. I don't expect you to be impenetrable now, obviously, but I just want to encourage you in this and remind you how young he is," He said to me, meaning the best, but it did seem a little fast to be introducing this thought.

"I know he's young, but I don't know if I'll ever find someone to replace Seneca, Ostro," I whispered, kissing his cheek softly before squeezing his hand and pulling myself to my feet, feeling that this conversation was over. It was more that I was horrified of the talk of moving on. All these years of my life, I had dedicated to Seneca. I couldn't start talking about finding a new father for Obadiah, not yet at least. In fact, it slightly angered me that he would even bring it up yet. I bit my tongue and said nothing more to him, partially because I knew that one day I would have to face that reality, but that day could wait. For a long time, as far as I was concerned.

Ostro said nothing, but only nodded his head as he came to his feet. I could tell that he knew not to say anything else on the matter because it was clearly a very fresh wound. He may have even felt he said too much, but he certainly wasn't going to try and mend it. Just as I was walking away to step down from the rock, I looked back at him. For a moment, in the moonlight, looking at my brother and seeing his ruffled dark hair, battered skin, and green eyes, I remembered back to when we were children. During the rest of the year other than Reaping, we would have so much fun together with Titus and our parents. I opened my mouth to comment on the memory, but I simply smiled at him and said," I'm glad to have you back, Ostro."

A/N: So, here's the first chapter of the second installation of Savera's story! I am incredibly excited to write this. I would like to give a shout out to BooksMakeMagicForMe for agreeing to Beta this story. With that being said, please drop a review and let me know what you think of this first chapter. Just to let you know, I plan on making this story roll much faster than Alien. Thanks for reading!