Chapter 2
(Katniss)
I check to make sure no one's watching me. Once I'm clear, I swim out the palace doors and meet up with my cousin, Gale.
"What took you soo long Catnip?" he asks.
"I'm sorry, it's kind of hard to sneak past all the guards at the palace lately." I say.
"Well, there's always room for improvement." he says.
I roll my eyes. "Come on." We swim to the village. I live in the palace because my father is the King of Panem, making me the Princess, which is kind of annoying. I'd rather be a villager because they get to choose who they love. Since I'm royal, my parents make that decision for me.
I'm nervous. I don't know who they'll choose for me. I don't have to get married until I'm twenty years old, that's when mermaids stop aging, but that's only eight years from now. I'm afraid time will go by too quick, and I'll have to get married and start my own kingdom. know that ultimately, it's a fate I can't escape, so I need to make the most of my single years.
My name is Princess Katniss Everdeen of the Kingdom of Panem. I have everything, yet I wish to be a villager. I've probably gone mad, but that's okay. For now, at least.
My cousin Gale is from the Kingdom of Seam. He has two brothers, Rory and Vick, and a little sister, Posy. I have a little sister, Prim, she's eight years old, and I love her more than anything in the world. I'm twelve years old.
We swim to the surface and examine the fishing nets set up to catch us. The humans are excellent trappers. They've been a threat to us for... forever. We aren't aloud to go to the surface, but Gale and I love adventure, the whole different world to explore at the surface. Even if we just look at it. I don't think we'd ever be bold enough to go on land. We'd dry up and die anyway.
I slowly stick my head out of the water, tasting the warm air for the first time in months. The air is probably what I love the most about going to the surface. It's so different. I smile as I feel the hot sun on me. I close my eyes and just float there. Gale comes here to study the nets, in the hopes that he could make his own nets one day. He thinks it would be easier to fish with them. I come here to escape from the palace, from the responsibilities.
"I wish you'd help me Catnip," says Gale.
"Help you with what?" I ask without opening my eyes. "You're just looking at them, aren't you?"
"No." says Gale. "Not today. Today I'm going to try to take one, so I can study it without having to come here all the time."
"I like it here," I protest.
"I don't." says Gale. "This place gives me the creeps, you do realize all kinds of things get caught in these nets and are pulled up onto those boats. I heard the humans eat em."
"Stop trying to scare me, Gale." I say.
"Just help me with the stupid nets, would you?" Gale asks.
I let out an annoyed breath, and open my eyes. I swim over to him and start pulling on the nets.
"Not like that, Katniss!" says Gale.
"Then how?" I ask turning around quickly. My tail gets caught in one of the fishing nets. I pull at it. Gale tries to get it off me, but somehow manages to get me even more tangled up in the net.
"I'm going to go get help," he says.
"No. They'll make sure we can't come here anymore!" I say.
"It's the only option." says Gale and he swims back to the palace. I pull at the net, clawing at it, not willing to let the guards find me like this. The surface makes me happy.
"Need help, sweetheart?" someone says from behind me. I turn my head and find a merman about my age with blonde hair and blue eyes. To my surprise, I notice that he's kind of handsome. His eyes widen when he sees my face. "Princess Katniss? What are you doing out here?" he asks.
"I don't really know I-" I start.
"I should help you." he says, more to himself than to me.
"You should." I say.
He rushes to my side and pulls out his knife. He starts cutting at the ropes. I wince when his knife cuts open some of my tail. "Oh my... I'm sorry. I... just... nervous..." he trails off. I raise my eyebrow. "Uhh... Tell me if the knife gets too close to you, okay?" he says. I nod, and he continues to cut the rope. Once I'm freed, he points out my guards, who are swimming toward us. "I should get going." he says.
"Umm... Okay." I say. Then he's gone.
I want to say thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter! Tell me what you thought of this chapter in the reviews.