Katniss pov

Music surrounds the palace ballroom as bodies twist and turn in time to the song. Everyone plays out the memorized dance whilst colours swirl above the floor, the hems of dresses flare outward as Capitalists twirl giving a joyous atmosphere.

"Hello Darling" my younger sister calls as she waves wildly before sitting upon her throne, aligned to my mother's. I know she would dance with me, she loves it, I can hear from the longing in her voice but unfortunately she is only young and still must learn the basic's of how to dance in public before she can join me.

With my mother wearing a matching blue and gold tunic to mine and swaying to the music beside me, I dance and twirl around my father as he holds his arms up and gives a joyous laugh. We both turn in time to the music with my going one way and him going the other, along with the rest of the partnered dancers. When my father isn't looking I pull a funny face at my 7 year old sister and stick my tongue out at her, feeling contentment spread through me as her smile grows upon seeing me.

Twisting away my father reaches for my waist hoists me up letting my legs dangle in the air allowing me to feel as free as a mockingjay.

"Oh Papa" I say laughing as he twirls me in the air before settling me back onto my feet. I bow and smile at him, seeing pride and awe settle in his eyes as he looks upon me. Pivoting, I turn away from the king and walk over to one of my maids; Lavinia who returns my stitching - which I completed earlier - to me. Thanking her I jog up the stairs. I lift the bottom of my dress with my left hand so I can watch my feet so I don't fall whilst my right hand clutches my gift.

Rushing forward I proudly hold out my stitching so my sister can admire it. Prim gasps, then smiles as she reaches forward and her index finger traces the outline of the cloth version of my sister. Giggling she pulls it closer and clutches it to her chest whilst she looks up at me in awe. I clasp my hands and grin back at her. Pulling back she glances at it again and taps my nose in appreciation and she exclaims about how much she 'loves it'.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see a blonde servant boy run forward into the room but he goes unnoticed. His bright blue eyes light up - a sharp contrast to his brown rags that he wears as clothes - as he watches the scene in front of him before he glances over at us, the smile never leaving his face. Avoiding his gaze I turn to Prim to see she has the cloth in her lap along with her purse, of which she withdrawals a small book and locket.

"Its a gift" she says as she holds them out to me. My eyes widen in shock.

"For me" I say in disbelief as I carefully take the possessions from her hands. Their clearly the most precious gifts I know I will ever get and instantly I love them. I tell her so. "Is it a book?" I question fascinated. In the background I can see the servant boy, who I know recognise as the youngest baker, be carried off by Gale, the oldest and my closest servant.

"Look" my sister's voice makes me shift my gaze back to her and she slowly presses the locket against the cover of the book allowing it to upon, revealing an array of drawings and information on plants from around the districts many I've never heard of but instantly I yearn to uncover more of their secrets and details. Turning to the inside of the front cover, I gasp as it shows the written words to our father's song. "It has our lullaby", I say star-struck. She nods in agreement.

Smiling she says, "We can play it at night, while father and mother are away and pretend its them singing to us".

Taking my hand she begins to sing our song; 'Deep in the meadow'.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow" she sings as I sway side to side "Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes, and when again they open, the sun will rise".

Joining my sister, I begin to sing along for the chorus "Here it's safe, here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you".

Giggling, she opens the locket and asks "What do you see?".

Looking down I take the item from her hands which displays three photo's "I see a photo of you and me, a photo of Gale and the photo in the middle is of mother and father", underneath it reads 'together in Panem'. "Really?" I gasp at the prospect of us leaving the Capitol Castle and going home so soon, "Oh Prim" I whisper as I hug her full of delight.

Unfortunately though, it didn't last long...


The abrupt sound of ear piecing screams fills the air and I release Prim to see a man with hair as white as snow forcefully push through the doors sending a gush of wind from outside, through the room, creating an echo as the doors slam back against the walls of the castle. The bright lights dim automatically once the darkness of the night is shown and two guards - which I remember President Coin calling them peacekeepers - stand prone next to where the man entered. The music stops and dancing stills as the man walks forward, closer to where I am. The joyous atmosphere turns to fear and Capitalists part in fear and create a pathway for him, the man dressed in a black trench coat and matching cape with a single rose in his top left pocket.

As he nears, my father intervenes his pathway and stands in front of him whilst I move in front of Prim to protect her if anything should happen. "How dare you return to the palace" my father says confronting the man as he moves forward and raises his arm in a physical attempt to block the man.

"But I am your confidant!" he retorts with a tinge of mockery. Hearing his voice I swallow a gasp as I recognise him as Cornelius snow, the power mad man who was once a president and partnered with my father but was soon revealed to be a fraud.

"My confidant? Ha!" my father mocks glaring at him as he moves his hand to the left as if brushing away the idea. "You are a traitor! Get out!" the king says raising his voice.

Snow reaches his hand forward, "You think you can punish the great Snow?" he asks rhetorically, "I salute your courage and your sacrifice, but by the holy powers invested in me, I banish you with a curse" he says picking up his rose "mark my words, you and your family will be dead within a fortnight. I will not rest until I see the end of the Everdeen line forever!".

He plucks a petal from the rose as he laughs maliciously as he turns and exits the ballroom "I wish you a happy hunger games!" he shouts as a deadly poisonous smell rises from the flower and spreads through the room. "And may the odds be ever in your favour" he finishes just as the petal floats to the floor.


Days after he left chaos had broke out, tributes and Capitalists where running wildly searching for an escape. Screams filled the air every night as the poisonous smell grew, rusting metal and cutting off transport. People were dying, numbers were falling.

"Mama!" I call as my sister rushes me out through the main hallway, "Papa". Somewhere along all the madness we got separated and the last I saw of my father was him lying sick and cold, getting weaker everyday as time passed with my mother next to him refusing to part but of course no-one thought it would become this bad. Then by the time I returned late in the evening to greet them, they were gone. I gasp as I remember my personal possessions, a way to connect and remember them "My locket!". I spin around and run away from my sister in search of them. I can't leave the few things I have that mean something to me.

"Katniss" she calls after me as I sprint back, in the opposite direction of everyone else. Whilst everyone flees the castle, I go deeper. "Come back! Come back!" she shouts desperately chasing after me. Pushing through the door to my bedroom I rush forward and fall to my knees as my hands grabble around in search of the gifts she gave me.

"Katniss" she breaths slamming the door shut.

My hands find purchase of my fathers mocking jay pin and I put it on my coat in a rush, continuing my search desperate for more time. Thankfully my hands grab my locket and plant book as Prim gasps. The heavy sound of footsteps and shouts approaching our door, the only place where I would be able to leave to find our parents. Prim rushes forward to me and carries the book, "Please hurry" she says tugging me to my feet and in my haste I drop my locket.

"Come this way!" a voice calls and i'm tugged backwards where I see a familiar boy pulling on Prim's arm. I know I have to go, I have no time. "The servants courters" he says pushing us forward and with a glance over my shoulder .

"Hurry Katniss" Prim says pushing me forward into a secret opening for the servants. I kneel down to get through the gap and Prim follows me but with a look back I notice I've left something behind.

"My locket!" I protest rushing back but the blonde servant boy blocks me and gently pushes me back into the secret hallway, his eyes apologetic as he slams the door shut cutting off most of the light, yet through a small gap between the wall and door I can see I dropped some of my paper's from my plant book. I blink and try to adjust my eyes to make my vision clearer whilst forcing back the tears from leaving things so dear to me behind.

"Go" he calls, the door making his voice sound echoey which is followed by shouts of men who sound as if they are in the room with him. I turn around hesitantly and crawl after Prim having trouble with the dim lighting. A smash resounds in the distance and I hurry to get away in fear of what could follow me. I don't want to get caught. Its as if their picking us off, one by one. Following Prim I stumble out of the passage way and into a room littered with rags and unclean dishes. The walls of which have lost their brightness and the panelled flooring appears stained. Before I can properly analyse my surroundings, Prim hauls me up and tugs me along and out the backdoor as if she's done this before. Rushing forward we exit the castle and once outside we cross where the lawns where.

The snow seems to have increased and is now several inches tall making it almost impossible for us to run through along with the issue of having to blink snow out of my eyes just so I can see straight.

"Prim" I call struggling not to trip over as she drags me forward against the force of the wind and under the bridge.

"Keep up with me Katniss", she shouts over the wind as we come out from the other side of the bridge and-

"Ahh!" I shriek as a heavy weight tugs me to the ground and I lose my grip on Prim's hand. The force throws me into the sound and as I look over my shoulder I realize its Snow. "What is your problem?! Let me go!" I scream as Prim tries to pull me up but I can tell even lifting someone as lightweight as me will be a problem for her.

"You think you can escape me?" he hisses as both of his hands grip my left ankle like a vice so tight I know it will leave a mark. My hair blows in my eyes as I search frantically for an escape to stop his hands going higher up my leg. Glancing around I notice this is where the pool would have been and in conditions like these it must have frozen over, now if I can just...

I kick more fiercely desperate to free myself from his hold as Prim grabs my arm and tries to pull me up because there's only so much she can do. With the force of all three of our weights moving up and down I hear a faint crack and pray that it isn't beneath me or Prim. Then with my right leg I begin to hit it against the ice below before I see a sharp crack in the ice which breaks through the snow. Unfortunately for Snow it happens to be underneath him and I watch as his grip loses and he struggles to get away from the water.

I scramble up as his body slides into the icy water before Prim drags me forward and we continue on. Running forward we pass the rest of the castle and begin to run on the streets near the local train station of which we came here one. Dodging capitalists I rush to keep up with Prim, exhausted from the recent events. In the distance I can see a capitol train leaving the station, already bordered with passengers.

"Katniss hurry!" Prim says tugging me as she tries to hurry up. As we near the train a number of capitalists notice us and reach out. Using most of my left over energy I push Prim forward and up until the passengers secure their clasp on her hands and she's pulled aboard. Turning around she sees me and I run faster trying to get up as she grabs my hand but i'm still running, the train is still moving. "Don't let go" I plead.

My legs burn the more I run and I can hear blood thumping in my ears as I get weaker. My chest heaving with effort, from every breath I take as my panic rises. Knowing that the train can reach speeds of up to 200 miles an hour. My fingertips graze hers and then...

"Ahh!" I screech as I trip from the slippery floor and hit my head against the platform, the cold doing nothing to numb the pain that I feel rising but this isn't from hurting my head. My vision starts to cloud and I can feel my eyelids growing heavy whilst I hear my name called in the distance. People surround me but completely ignore my existence as I begin to lose consciousness and I only form one thought.

I'll see you soon Prim, together in Panem.

Hey! Please read my latest book 'Please don't break up"!

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