This chapter contains mentions of rape, read at your own discretion.

Please read Snow Princess by DreamTillDawn on Archive of our own, the story that inspired this one.

I don't own The Hunger Games.

Please let me know if you see any errors.


Her district one instructors and Slyth accompany her to the outside. Outside the capitol, outside the districts, the dead world. She's been exploring the ancient world since she was eight. Everything long gone, barren, she'll come across the occasional plant. She wears protective gear when she comes here, if she doesn't the air will suffocate her.

They don't know much about the dead world but they know more than they did four years ago.

Grandfather has always been against her expeditions to the outside but after many failed attempts, begrudgingly allowed it. She can tell that he hides things about the dead world from her. She hides her findings from him as well.

She remembers her first time going outside, walking slowly and picking up samples with her bare hands. Hearing noise and knowing something was wrong, that she wasn't alone. No one had been guiding her at the time and she never spoke of the noise to anyone. The second time they had gone in a different direction, flew over the ruins of district 13, saw two guards that wore breastplates showing their alliance to the district thought to be destroyed. That was the day she learned of her grandfather's first secret. Her instructors pretending not to notice.

They run, Gold and her, as Diamond mans the ship above them never allowing the two women to get too far from sight. Never slowing down to get a second glimpse at anything. Out here in the open is the place she feels alive, feels true fear. Katniss has no way to explain it, it's not a rational fear, she doesn't fear dying out here, it's a fear of weightlessness, like she's breathing easy despite the thick air, she's fears her acceptance here.

Ramon has always known her love of the dark days, he can see the passion in her eyes when she reads the books, wears the clothes, tastes the food. He told her once.

Diamond brings the ship closer to the ground and flies alongside them. It's time to go. He doesn't slow or land, it's too dangerous out here, instead the girls pick up speed and hurl themselves into the open door. Slyth follows after.

Katniss has everything she came for. The 72nd games will replicate the architecture and smog that looms in the air.

This year Katniss has hand selected all the tributes, aside from district one and two that have their own volunteers. Her victor will be from three. Rahella is as beautiful as district one tributes. Her hair is the color of honey and wheat and she is tall and willowy. She has a soft voice and blushes too easy.

She manages to kill the girl from nine by letting her steal the food that she's poisoned. Everything is progressing well until the boys from one and two start causing problems. They kill their female partners, raping the girl from one. When they catch sight of Rahella they give chase. Katniss drops fire on them letting Rahella put distance between them.

Just as she's making progress and things are starting to look up again is when everything goes to utter fucking shit. Johanna would be proud of her vulgar language.

She hides in one of the buildings that Katniss replicated from the dead world. In the night it falls on her, a metal rod rams through her hand into the ground. She's pinned for two days. The boys growing closer by the hour. Katniss rains fresh water on her.

When the career boys draw close enough that Rahella can hear their taunting screams she bites through her wrist. She manages to beat the boy from one over the head with a rock before running for the woods.

Her open wound gets infected, it's infected by the air. Katniss doesn't have a cure for dead world issues. In the end the tribute she chose will be killed by the arena she chose, due to her own carelessness. She sends her lamb stew, it's all she can do now. Ease her suffering and promises the boy from two a hard life after the games. Rahella goes on.

She finds a sharp rock and cuts away at the infection rotting her arm. Tears fall as she scrapes away both the infection and her flesh, she's silent still. It's taken the flesh all the way to her elbow. Leaving the bone underneath sharp. The final fight is hard to watch. The boy from two is on top of her and tearing at her clothes, Rahella impales him through the face with her sharpened arm. She can't remove her arm from his head and when the ship drops down peacekeepers and healers, they have to cut the boys head off to get her into the ship.

She managed to cut the infection out of her body and the healers decide to leave her ulna out on show, sharpened and raw. They get Katniss's permission first of course.

Katniss summons Beetee to her chambers the night the games finish. "She needs a new arm, make her one, make it gold to match her hair." The arm fits over her bone and covers her elbow, fully functioning.

Beetee says it will take a while before she can properly function the hand. "Give her metal cups." She reminds him that this is his own idea and she has nothing to do with it.

"You enjoy playing the monster don't you?" She has no response.

His name is Mr. Ridmen and he's well known around the capitol. He backs her grandfather and she's met him a half a dozen times over the years. When her participation in creating the games was announced he flooded her with money to show his support. He's dangerous and she once heard a rumor revolving around him that she wishes she could forget, but she needs him.

The first time she'd met the man he hadn't been allied with her grandfather, in fact he had just walked out of a business meeting with the president when he'd come across her. She was six and hadn't gotten Gale yet. He saw her eyes.

"Let's never lie to each other Princess." Were the first words he'd ever spoken to her. She'd agreed. He'd returned to his meeting then and allied with Snow, with her. When she's older she learns that her grandfather had tried to have him killed but didn't succeed, twice.

He gives Beetee access to a remote workshop of his to craft the perfect arm for Katniss's newest victor. Offers up all the tech that the man would ever need.

She watches Rahella every day through her recovery process. She's been given the nickname Bones by the capitol citizens and they all wear glass bone necklaces and hair accessories in support of her. Rahella doesn't know this yet of course, still in the deep sleep she was placed in two weeks ago by the healers.

It's rare the healing process takes this long for a victor. Katniss remembers Johanna up and about the day after her games. Finnick less than a week.

She thinks about Johanna and Annie, both back in the hospital after suffering panic attacks. Annie when the peacekeepers decapitated the head from the dead body, and Johanna when watching Rahella stab her arm through the boys head. Katniss thinks it's more that she couldn't get her arm free rather than the actual stabbing itself.

Finnick and Mags visit Annie, Katniss makes herself scarce when Dolly alerts her to their approach. She doesn't care that Blight sees her on his visit to Johanna late one night. Blight is a quiet man, she doesn't need to tell him to keep this to himself he will anyway. He bows before disappearing into her room three doors down.

She'll never give up on Rahella again. The new arm is beautiful.

When Caesar introduces the new tribute 'bones' to the world the response is crazed. She's only ever seen such passion from Finnicks adoring fans. Finnick talks to her in the corner of the ball room that night, Katniss watches on through the one way glass, whatever he tells her has her pale. District one Cashmere and Gloss approach her, apologizes for their male tribute, thanks her for avenging their female one. She decides she likes the beautiful twins.

Katniss watches a capitol man with pink hair run his hand on her lower back. She sees red.

Before she can reach them Mr. Ridmen appears and removes the man's hand from Rahellas backside. The pink man turns to put up a fight but quickly shuts his mouth and shrinks off. Mr. Ridmen doesn't stay to hear whatever Rahella tries to tell him.

He comes to her, tells her that Rahella's mother committed suicide watching her pinned under the building, and that she is orphaned at seventeen. They dance. People take notice, after all they are two of the most powerful people in the world.

"What did you come here to say Mr. Ridmen? We both know you could care less about the victors."

"You've met an orange fellow named Pelenos, rather nasty if I say so myself." Of course she's met him, orange hair, orange skin, orange eyes. Pelenos has been allied with her and her grandfather since she could remember, he was one of the first people she had ever been allowed to meet. He somehow is always managing to get his hands on priceless artifacts from the dead days, gifts them to her often. He even gifted her Johanna's game axe a few months ago, though he never found Finnicks trident. She doesn't think too much of it, many citizens send her lovely gifts.

"He's dealing is some unsavory business, princess." Where is this going?

"The same type of unsavory business you often find yourself entangled in, Mr Ridmen?" It's no secret to her that both men in question have agendas all their own, though what exactly no one has ever been able to properly determine.

"No Princess, I have no interest in such disgusting acts."

She convinces her grandfather to let Rahella stay in the capitol. Stay in the castle with her. No one can touch her within the walls of her fortress. Her rooms are down the hall from Katniss's but she sees to it they don't meet each other in anything other than passing.

She's in the middle of designing the 73rd games when she hears it in passing. Two middle age woman gossiping about the capitol darling. She's used to this. Finnick Odair, the most beautiful man alive, the most charming, the strongest, intelligent, and the list goes on. This is as common as breathing, it's the next line that she's never heard that catches her off guard. "He's worth every penny."