A/N: I read the hunger games series again when we were snowed in for four days and got re obsessed. Then I started thinking, and when I think a story plot comes to mind and this happens. This is my version of the story if only Katniss won the 74th hunger games. I think the quarter quell would have been differnt. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Third Quarter Quell

Willow's POV

My eyes narrow as I crouch on the branch of a tall oak tree. Below me is a deer. I'm lucky to find one this close to the fence. Usually I only get kill this big when I go into the deep woods. My hand tightens on my knife as I wait. I have to wait for the deer to get in just the right position. If I lose the element of surprise or if the blow isn't fatal, I lose my kill. And I don't want my mom and siblings to starve on reaping day.

I hardly dare to breathe as the deer pauses under the tree. She knows something is watching her. She can sense my presence. Just a little bit closer and I'll have her.

She lowers her head back to the ground after an agonizing pause. She takes a step forward. I seize my chance and drop from the tree.

My knife sinks into the deer's neck, like I had hoped. She admits a high pitched sound of pain and keels over, her hooves kicking out wildly. I quickly pull the knife from her neck and sink it through her eye, killing her immediately. She goes limp under me.

I swallow and straighten, tucking my knife back into my belt. I'll be able to get quite a bit for this at the Hob. Besides this deer, I've caught a squirrel, some fish and I've gathered some berries.

Hopefully we'll have good meal with this horrible day is over.

I've grown up in the Seam all my life, in a small house with my mother, my twin sister and my little brother. My father was killed in a coal mining accident when I was nine along with so many other miners. I don't remember him all that well. All I have of him are pictures. Every year that passes he becomes more and more of a stranger in my mind.

It was after his death that I started venturing into the woods and hunting. I would climb trees and wait for prey to pass me by before I'd attack. My sister said I was like a snake. Coiling and waiting, concealed in the leaves and striking hard and fast before the prey had time to run away.

Of course I used to miss more times than I killed. But as the years went by I started to get better. I was able to bring in more kills to trade in the Hob. I'm no expert at hunting. I don't know how to use a bow and my snares are less than effective. I'm decent with a knife under the right circumstances. I'm just good at sneaking around and I'm patient.

I kept my family alive when our meager rations weren't enough. It's hard since we have only my mother to work for a living. Even though hunting in the woods and trading in the Hob is illegal, there is no other alternative.

Unless we want to look like skeletons. But I find that isn't a particularly pleasant idea.

I'm surprised to run into Katniss, the District 12 victor last year, at the Hob. She doesn't need to hunt as she is in the victor's village. I don't understand while she still does it.

Katniss approaches Greasy Sae to trade with her. She notices my eyes on her and casts me a glance "What?" she asks, her voice sharp.

"Nothing." I say, evenly. "I'm just wondering why you're here when you don't even need to hunt anymore."

She looks at the dead squirrel in her hand "It takes my mind off things."

"Oh." I mutter, looking at the ground. "Right."

I guess being a victor is a hard thing as much as it is an honor. You have to watch twenty three others die. This year she'll have to mentor two other tributes who will probably die as well. The way I figure it, District 12 will get a victor every twenty five years if we're lucky.

"I've seen you before haven't I?" Katniss asks.

"Yeah." I sigh. "A long time ago... your father was killed in the same accident my father was. I was nine then."

"Yes, that must have been it." She finishes her trade with Greasy Sae. "What's your name?"

"Willow." I say.

A ghost of a smile appears over her face. "Well… may the odds be ever in your favor Willow."

I stare after her as she walks away, unsure if I should reply or not. By the time I've considered this, she's already out of ear shot.

"You get on now." Greasy Sae tells me. "Your mother will worry about you."

"Yes." I nod. "Thank you for your business."

My sister is sitting on the ground just outside our house when I arrive. She grins when I appear "Willow!"

"Holly." I grin in return. "Is mom up?"

"Yeah she's inside." Holly nods and looks me up and down. "You're filthy. It will be a chore getting you ready."

"Thanks a lot." I mutter, though I'm not really angry.

Even though Holly is my twin, she looks nothing like me. She has blonde hair and grey eyes, I have dark hair and dark green eyes. She takes after my mom, I take after my dad. The only thing I take after my mom is I'm small for my age at fifteen. I'm a total shrimp. Holly is of a more average height.

This will be our fourth time in the reaping. I'm not nearly as panicked as I was the previous years. Last year, neither of us stopped clutching each other's hand until the reaping was over. Last year a twelve year old had been reaped, but Katniss, her sister, took her place.

Last year's games was gut wrenching. Peeta and Katniss were the only ones left. He wouldn't kill her and she would kill him, but because of his wounds, he went first. I remember Katniss looking numb the entire post game events. I would be to. It seemed like they really were in love.

My little brother, Walter, is bouncing restlessly in his chair when Holly and I enter the house. He beams and runs to hug me as soon as I take two steps into the kitchen.

"Sissy! Did you get us anything good to eat?"

I nod and sling my spoils from my shoulder and onto the table. "Bread, meat, a little cheese and some fresh strawberries." I ruffle his hair. "We'll eat well tonight."

Walter licks his lips. I hear my mom laugh as she enters the room. "Yes, I'll be glad when this day is over. It's nerve racking for me. I'll never get used to it."

"No kidding." I sigh.

My mother looks me over "Well, you're filthy. We need to wash you up before you get into your outfit."

"I don't see why we have to dress up." I groan. "Who are we trying to impress? I don't much want to impress the Capital."

"Willow" my mom's face grows stern. "It's only customary. Looking nice is a courtesy you can afford to give your district." She brushes her hair absently from her face. "Besides, it won't matter. You won't be taking part in the games anyway. You're young and you haven't had to take as many tesseraes. The odds are in your favor.

"She's right." Holly says. "We won't get reaped. It's better to think optimistically."

I shrug. Maybe it's better to look on the bright side, but twelve year olds have still been drawn even when they've had only one slip in the pool. But for the sake of everyone else, I try to keep my thoughts on the bright side.

Today is one of the few days where I bathe in a tub of warm water, scrubbing my body and washing my hair. My mother has brought out our old dresses that we used for the last reaping. Mine is blue and Holly's is violet. They're both simple dresses but both very pretty. I've always preferred simple. It's the opposite of the Capital's extravagant style.

When I'm dressed my mom helps me work the tangles from my long hair. I push it back behind my ears and pull my bangs out of my face with a clip.

Holly barely has to do anything to her hair to make it beautiful. My sister is beautiful naturally, with soft, wavy hair that glows with the sun hits it and her always smiling grey eyes. I know many of the boys at my school have a crush on her.

I'm not nearly as pretty as her. It's not that I'm ugly. I'm just plain. Though I might look better if I wasn't always so dirty.

"You both look pretty." Walter tells us. At ten years old he has two years before he can be reaped. He has dark hair like me and grey eyes like my sister. He's also small for his age. For living in the Seam, he's a surprisingly happy boy. He always seems to be smiling.

"Thanks Walt." Holly smiles and pinches his cheek.

"Yeah so do you." I smirk at him.

He makes a face "Uh uh! I am not!"

"Just joking with you Walter." I shake my head. "You're very handsome."

Walter puffs out his chest in pride.

"Let's go." My mom motions for us to stand. "We'll be late."

This is the 75th hunger games and as such this is the third quarter quell. It has been tradition in the past for the quell to be different from a normal games. Surprisingly enough though, this quell is a mystery. President Snow announced to the world two weeks ago that the special feature of the quell would be revealed on the day of the reaping. It's all a secret.

That makes me a little uneasy. Any secrets that the Capital keeps can't be good ones.

Holly and I separate from my mother and Walter and go to join the other girls in the roped off area. We join a group of our friends who are talking to each other nervously, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation. My friend, Lila is practically jumping up and down.

"Oh… I just want it to be over." She murmurs. "I hate this waiting. They drag it out so much."

"You'll be fine." I say, not very good with comforting words. "The odds are in our favor."

"Yeah but still." Lila whines.

"Yeah… still." I agree with a nod.

My eyes turn towards the stage. There are four chairs on the stage beside the podium. One is filled by the mayor, the next by District twelve's escort, Effie Trinket, who seems a lot happier to be our escort now that we've had such publicity last year. The third and fourth chairs are for our two living victors. Katniss Everdeen, of course, and Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch is drunk, but not quite as drunk as usual, though that isn't saying much. He just slumps in his chair, looking dazed. Katniss just looks relatively disgusted by the whole reaping.

I can't imagine why.

But the strangest thing is that up on stage, instead of two balls, a ball for girls and a ball for boys, there is only one large glass ball. There are many whispers about this between my friends. We know it has something to do with the quell, but we don't understand why there would be less tributes. That didn't fit the Capital's bloodthirsty tastes at all. Something else was going on, and it made me uneasy to think about it.

We listen to the mayor give his usual speech on the history of Panem and about the uprising that caused the Hunger Games to be founded. I tune out most of his speech. I've heard it many times before. The mayor introduces our past victors. When the crowd responds with token applause, Katniss only glares forward and Haymitch is too drunk to really care.

Then Effie Trinket comes to the stage "Happy, happy Hunger Games!" she beams. "And may the odds be ever in your favor." She gestures to the glass ball. "As you see, I have only one pool to select a name from. The second tribute will decided later by other circumstances. Good luck to you all!" she beams brightly and reaches her hand into the pool.

Everyone holds their breath. She pauses for dramatic effect before she reads the name. As soon as the name exits her lips I feel Holly squeeze my hand in a death grip.

Because it's my name that has been read.

Willow Catridge.

And my name has suddenly become my death sentence.

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