Katniss' first stop after leaving the training area was the armory, where she got outfitted with protective clothing that was a little too similar to Illyria's for her liking, a comms unit, and all the weapons Angel had deemed it necessary for her to have. As she wrestled with the straps on the various holsters for her gun, knife, collapsible bow, quiver, stake, and a pouch containing something magical that was only to be used as a last resort, a smaller pair of hands moved hers out of the way and took over. "Here, let me."
"Prim?" she asked, looking up in surprise. "Why aren't you in the infirmary?" Her eyes widened as a horrible thought struck her. "You're not going to Eleven, are you?"
"No, they said I'm too young to work in the field triage unit," Prim replied, sounding slightly put out. "I just wanted to see you before you go, and I didn't know if you'd have time to stop by."
The infirmary wasn't so far away that she couldn't have made it there and back before the scheduled departure, but the thought of going in there and telling her family that she was once again heading off into a dangerous situation from which she might not come back alive so soon after they'd had to watch her being whisked away to compete in the Hunger Games was almost unbearable, and she was immeasurably grateful to her sister for relieving her of the responsibility to do so. "Thanks, Prim. I'm so sorry - you know I don't want to leave you again-"
"It's okay, Katniss, I understand. I don't like thinking about you having to fight again, or...or kill anybody..." Her eyes misted over as the memories of watching her beloved sister being forced to take the lives of other children on national TV crowded to the front of her mind; then she blinked, and the sheen of tears vanished, replaced by something steely that Katniss had never seen in her before. "But after seeing what happened to our home, I know President Snow needs to be stopped, and I understand why you have to be part of it. We've been watching the Hunger Games all our lives, and no other tribute ever brought people together like you did - no other tribute ever really made them care. You're the only one who can do this; even Angel says so, and he should know. He's a gazillion years old, right?"
"Yeah, well, I think Haymitch has been spiking Angel's blood. Wait...no, he wouldn't give away any of his liquor now that he's down to his last bottle, would he?"
"No way." Worry briefly flashed across Prim's face. "We've been rationing what he brought with him to try and wean him off of it before it runs out, and he's not taking it too well. I heard there's a demon here whose sweat can serve as an intoxicant, but we're not supposed to mention that to him."
"Probably a good idea." She wished she could believe Haymitch wasn't a big enough addict to drink demon sweat, but suspected he just might be. "He might not know what you're talking about if you mention intoxicants, though. You're starting to sound like a real doctor now, little duck."
"When I'm a real doctor, I'll wear a lab coat and you won't be able to call me that anymore."
Just then, the intercom system crackled to life, shattering their stolen moment of lightheartedness. "Departure for District 11 in five minutes. All team members, report to the main assembly area immediately."
The sisters instinctively glanced up at the sound of the disembodied voice; when they turned their attention back to one another, every last trace of humor had been wiped away, leaving their features pale and grim. "Well, I guess this is it. Good-"
Prim threw her arms around Katniss' middle and squeezed fiercely, cutting her off mid-word. "Don't say goodbye," she ordered. "Just make sure you come back."
"Okay. Whatever I have to do, I'll do it, Prim, I swear."
"I know you will."
Katniss thought she heard a faint sniffle, but when Prim let go of her and stepped back, she appeared perfectly composed. Katniss hated to see her little sister trying so hard to put on a brave face; she was supposed to be strong for Prim, not the other way around.
Together, they made their way to the large, open room where the rest of the group had already begun marching into Illyria's portal; only then did they separate, with Prim hanging back while Katniss got in line with Gale and Peeta. Both boys glanced sideways at her as she took her place between them, and her heart clenched when she saw that Peeta's face was set in the same expression she'd glimpsed there when they were lifted into the arena, during the final countdown before the Hunger Games officially began - resigned yet determined. Outwardly, Gale's demeanor appeared to be much the same, but there was an excited gleam in his eyes that Katniss had only ever seen when they slipped past the boundaries of Twelve to hunt, as he reveled in their small acts of rebellion.
Seeing that familiar look in her best friend's eyes here and now was almost as jarring as the realization of how much her little sister had grown up recently, but there was no time to dwell on it; before she knew it they had reached the front of the line. Gale went on without pause, but Katniss and Peeta, who had never travelled by portal before, hesitated.
"Go on," Illyria ordered. "Or shall I assist you?"
"No thanks." Uncertain as she was about willingly stepping into that swirling vortex of light, Katniss was positive she didn't want Illyria tossing her in headfirst.
"It's gotta be safe," Peeta said, sounding as if he was trying to reassure himself as much as her. "Everyone else wouldn't have walked into it if it wasn't." He reached out to Katniss. "Together?"
"Together," she agreed, taking his outstretched hand. After all, it was their joint act of defiance that had set everything in motion, they had fled District 12 together, and they had faced their nightmares about the Games together; it seemed fitting that they should step into the unknown together as well. Holding on to each other tightly, they stepped into the portal...
...And found themselves in the wilderness, a few miles outside the district. "What took you so long?" Gale demanded, frowning at the sight of their joined hands.
Katniss quickly let go of Peeta. "Nothing. Where's Angel?"
Gale pointed. "Over there, checking out the fence. Eleven's is bigger than ours was - they've even got guard towers."
The three of them walked over to where their leader stood, peering into the distance through a pair of binoculars with special modifications that allowed him to detect the presence of magic as he discussed District 11's defenses with his highest-ranking lieutenants. "Alma, I need you and your crew to start finding a way through the wards, but be subtle about it - we don't want to lose the element of surprise."
"Of course not - if we leave the wards in place but disrupt them for a few seconds at a time, that should allow Illyria to get us inside without alerting anyone in the Capitol to the breach."
"Good. If you can manage it, I'd like to get inside tonight; we need more information before we can finalize our strategy."
Commander Boggs looked relieved to hear this; as powerful a seer as Drusilla was, he and the other human soldiers weren't exactly thrilled about heading into battle on nothing more than the say-so of a deranged vampire who spent most of her time having tea parties with dolls.
###
An hour later, Coin reported that the group's mages had successfully penetrated the wards. "When you say the word, I'll overload the system with a concentrated burst of magical energy; that should give Illyria a five-second window to slip you inside undetected."
"Good work. Illyria, I hate to ask you to do this-"
She assumed Fred's appearance before he finished speaking. "I understand - can't have the locals gettin' their panties all twisted up over what I look like, now can we?"
Angel turned to Katniss. "Care to join us for some recon?"
"Okay," she replied tersely, hoping he couldn't hear her heart thudding against her ribs.
Gale and Peeta stepped forward as well, as if they expected to be included in the mission, but Angel waved them away. "Sorry, guys, it's just the three of us; we don't have much time, and we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves. Don't worry, I'll bring her back in one piece. Come on, Katniss."
Illyria took them to a remote corner of an orchard, where they huddled behind a broad tree trunk as she and Angel used their superhuman senses to scan the surrounding area for any signs of life. "There are no Peacekeepers within two hundred yards of our position," she reported in a hushed voice, "but there are several workers still present."
"Rue told me they have to work after dark during the harvest season," Katniss remarked.
"Extended work hours seem to have become a regular occurrence; I can feel their frustration and resentment hanging in the air like smog. I witnessed many rebellions during my reign, and the very same atmosphere presaged them all."
"Can you tell when they plan to actually start rebelling?"
Illyria gave Katniss a withering look that somehow managed to be intimidating in spite of her alter ego's dainty features. "I am an empath, girl, not a prophet."
"Well, I'm neither, but I know we're not going to find out anything hiding behind this tree."
Angel caught her by the arm before she could move out into the open. "Where do you think you're going?"
"You asked for my help because you think I can influence people, so I thought I'd try talking to somebody. That's why you brought me along, isn't it?"
Angel nodded, pleased that his protégée was starting to embrace her role. "Try that sector over there," he suggested, turning her in the right direction. "They've already finished picking here. Take this-" He handed her a cloaking bracelet like the ones he'd given her and Peeta to aid in their escape from District 12's Peacekeepers "-and make it quick - we've only got fifteen minutes."
"Can't Illyria slow things down and buy us more time?"
"No," the demon goddess growled, "something in this place is interfering with my powers. Now, are you going to make yourself useful, or would you prefer to continue wasting what little time we have?"
###
Katniss climbed the first occupied tree they came to while Angel and Illyria waited below, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for Peacekeeper patrols. Once she was safely concealed among the branches, she slipped off the device rendering her invisible before working her way around the trunk to the side of the tree where a boy not much older than Rue was gathering fruit. "Psst, kid, over here."
The boy started so violently that he almost fell out of the tree. "Katniss Everdeen?! How-? We heard Twelve burned up - everyone thinks you're dead!"
"Well, I'm not. What did you hear about what happened to my district?" She was getting sidetracked, she knew, but couldn't contain her curiosity as to how the Capitol had explained away the massacre of thousands.
"They said it was an accident - the mines exploded and the fire spread out of control because of all the coal dust - but we all think they did it."
"They did," Katniss confirmed, although she had to give Snow credit for inventing a plausible cover story; coal dust had indeed permeated Twelve, particularly in the Seam, and had been such a concern that fire safety was one of the first lessons taught to children who lived there.
"Our electricity got cut off once the coal shipments stopped, even in the mayor's house," the boy continued, "but they still have power in the Justice Building and the Peacekeepers' barracks. Our quotas went up too; now we're out here from dawn till midnight, and we got a new Head Peacekeeper that whips people for talking during work hours, taking too many water breaks, and just about everything else. He even killed Rue's grandma yesterday - just snapped her neck with his bare hands."
Katniss clapped a hand to her mouth in horror, but the boy didn't seem saddened or traumatized by the terrible events he had just described - his dark eyes held only smoldering anger.
"The grownups say we can't go on like this much longer; I heard them whispering about it when they thought us kids were asleep. They said that tomorrow morning, when the Peacekeepers come to take us to work, we're gonna fight back." He leaned toward her, his face lighting up with anticipation. "That's why you're here, isn't it? You came to fight with us."
"Yes - and I'll be bringing some friends."
The comm in her ear crackled, and Angel's voice instructed her to press for more details.
"My friends need to know exactly what you're planning, though, so they can figure out the best way to help."
Her young informant had just finished telling her everything he knew - luckily, he and his siblings were very adept at eavesdropping - when Angel spoke up again. "Patrol's on their way - we have to go."
Katniss quickly thanked the boy and started to scramble back toward the ground, but he reached out as if to stop her, his fingers brushing her leather-clad shoulder. "Wait! How'd you make it out of Twelve? Is it true what the other kids say about you, that you can't burn? And how did you get in here?"
She paused, her feet already on a lower branch, and looked back up at the boy. "Honestly, kid, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
###
Back at the campsite, she was invited to Angel's final strategy session with Illyria, Boggs, and Coin, though all she did was listen to them talk until he asked her if she wanted to fire the first official shot of the revolution.
"Me?" she blurted, sitting up straight and trying hard to look like she hadn't just been on the verge of nodding off.
"Yes, you - if you take out the Head Peacekeeper right before we go in, it'll disorient our enemies, plus it might help the people's morale to get a look at you."
"Okay, I'll do it if you think it'll help, it's just..." Her voice trailed off as she dropped her gaze to the tent floor.
"What is it?"
"I haven't shot at anyone since the Games," she admitted in a near-whisper. Her eyes darted back to Angel. "I tried, when my district's Peacekeepers cornered you, but I...I couldn't. I kept seeing Cato..."
"Who's Cato?"
Illyria quickly filled him in on the boy from Two and his gory demise.
"Why didn't you mention this sooner?" Coin demanded. Without waiting for Katniss' reply - not that Katniss was inclined to answer her anyway - she turned to Angel. "Maybe we should send her back to headquarters; she could be a liability if she has another flashback tomorrow."
"No, I want to fight!" It was strange; a couple of hours ago she had dreaded being here, but now the idea of being sent back, of hiding underground while the others risked their lives without her, was intolerable. "I've been doing fine with the hand-to-hand in training, haven't I?"
Angel sighed. "Yes, you have, but Alma has a point. Look, we'll work on it tonight, but if I'm not satisfied that you can handle yourself, then you will have to go back. Sound fair?" He looked both her and Coin in the eyes as he spoke, searching for any signs of dissent. Katniss agreed right away, and after a short pause so did Coin, albeit without much enthusiasm. "Good. Get your bow and meet me by the giant oak."
Katniss hurried to obey, and five minutes later she arrived at the oak tree with Gale and Peeta in tow, the boys having seen her fetching her bow and wanting to know what she could be shooting at this time of night. Angel was already there, carving a notch into the trunk with his knife. "Okay, let's have you try to shoot this."
She did, hitting the mark effortlessly and earning an encouraging pat on the back from Gale. "See, Catnip, you're still the best shot in Panem." He glanced over at Angel. "I don't know what you're worried about; she can shoot just fine."
"It's not her ability to shoot at trees that concerns me." He repositioned himself so that he was directly in front of the target. "Try again, same place."
Her eyes widened in horror, the bow falling from her suddenly nerveless fingers. "What?! You want me to...to shoot at you?!"
"You can't ask her to do that!" Peeta protested.
"If she goes into battle with us tomorrow, our lives might depend on her," Angel patiently explained.
"If?" Gale repeated, but Angel continued as if he hadn't heard him.
"We need to know we can count on her. If she can shoot at me, someone she knows - and I hope I'm not being too presumptuous in thinking she even likes me a little-" He paused, waiting for Katniss' reaction.
After a moment, the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. "Just a little bit."
"-Then she should have no problem with an enemy." He looked expectantly at her.
"But what if I hit you?" she asked worriedly.
"You won't."
He sounded totally confident, but her hands still shook badly as she fitted an arrow to her bow and took aim. Sure enough, Cato's image materialized in her mind - brutalized and tortured, his eyes filled with agony as he stared at her, his gaze seeming to penetrate her very soul... She immediately lowered her hands, her arrow pointing uselessly at the ground, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I can't do this."
"Yes, you can." Peeta moved closer and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "As horrible as it was, you were able to shoot Cato because it was the kindest thing to do. He was suffering, and you ended it. What you did wasn't murder."
"But if I kill people in this war, it will be."
"I know, but you'll be ending the suffering of a lot more people - kids like Prim and Rue who won't have to live in poverty or be slaughtered in the Games anymore. I've been thinking about it a lot, and even though I hate the idea of what's coming, all the terrible things we'll have to do, I know it'll be worth it in the end, because we'll be making the world a better place."
"Thanks, Peeta. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear." She gave him a weak but genuine smile, then took a deep breath and raised her bow again. The images swarmed to the forefront of her mind once more, but she beat them back, forcing herself to focus instead on Peeta's words, and loosed her arrow...which struck the tree a foot to the left of Angel's head. "Well, it looks like you were right - I definitely don't have to worry about hitting you," she said glumly.
"At least you made the shot. If it helps, there's a good chance that the new Head Peacekeeper isn't human. You don't mind killing demons, do you? That's what you asked me to train you for."
Gale retrieved the arrow and brought it back to her. "Come on, Catnip, just pretend we're out hunting like we used to. You can do this."
After three more tries, the arrow finally left her bow right on target. Her heart seemed to stop as she realized it was going to hit Angel in the chest, but he pivoted out of its path at the last second, catching it just before it lodged in the tree. "Good job. If I hadn't been expecting it, you would've dusted me."
Katniss almost laughed out loud, feeling giddy with relief that she could still shoot and hadn't accidentally killed Angel. "Does that mean I'm cleared for combat now?"
"Not yet - first I have to be sure this wasn't a fluke." He handed the arrow to Gale, who dutifully returned it to her once more. "Again."
###
The next morning began just like any other in District 11: the Peacekeepers rounded everyone up at six AM sharp and marched them out to a long row of sheds, where they collected their work gear before heading out to the fields and orchards. They had planned to attack as soon as everybody was equipped with something that could serve as an improvised weapon, but before the last person in line could give the signal, an arrow whistled through the air and punched a hole in the Head Peacekeeper's armored chestplate.
The man's body exploded into dust as the wooden shaft pierced his heart, drawing shocked exclamations from the citizens, as well as some Peacekeepers who hadn't known their boss was a vampire. Others cheered as they looked in the direction the arrow had come from and saw Katniss standing on the roof of the house closest to the sheds, but most of them just stared at her as if seeing a ghost, which was exactly what several people thought she was.
In the next instant, however, the soldiers from Thirteen seemingly appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on the stunned Capitol enforcers. The gunfire convinced the people of Eleven that they were not in fact experiencing a mass hallucination, and they rushed to join the fray, wielding scythes, hoes, pitchforks, shovels, and anything else they could get their hands on.
Meanwhile, Katniss lowered her bow, trying to ignore the slight tremors coursing through her. Despite the nerve-wracking drill Angel had put her through last night, there had still been a terrifying moment when she'd worried that she wouldn't be able to do it...but then she had, and it was almost easy. Of course, Angel's assurances about the Head Peacekeeper's demonic nature had helped, and she was relieved that he'd been right, but she couldn't avoid dealing with human adversaries any longer; from her high vantage point, she could see that the Peacekeepers had recovered themselves and were returning fire, all but erasing whatever initial advantage the rebels had gained. Worse still, they started seizing people to use as human shields, forcing her side to put down their guns and engage them at close range.
This was the first chance she'd had to see Illyria in action, and she proved to be even more formidable than Katniss had imagined, cutting through the enemy like a whirlwind and leaving total destruction in her wake. Katniss already knew Angel was an amazingly skilled fighter after watching him take down the demon mutts, of course, and even Coin appeared to be doing a fair amount of damage with whatever magic tricks she had up her sleeve; any Peacekeepers who got too close to her crumpled to the ground and didn't get back up. Still, they were vastly outnumbered, and Katniss could see that their side was taking casualties too. I have to help them!
Taking a deep breath, she pulled another arrow out of her quiver while scanning the chaos below, picking out a Peacekeeper who had taken a small child hostage. Her arrow struck him in the throat, but this man didn't turn to dust; he staggered backward, blood spurting from his torn carotid, then keeled over and lay unmoving in the dirt. Katniss froze, her breath coming harder and faster as she thought of Cato again, except where his tattered remains had been practically unrecognizable, this was very clearly a human corpse - a corpse she had created. Forcing her eyes away from the grisly sight, she sought out the child instead, just in time to see the little girl fleeing into the fields, disappearing among the cornstalks - safe, for the moment. Then she pulled out another arrow.
She managed to take down seven more Peacekeepers in quick succession before one of them extricated himself from the melee and charged toward the house whose roof she was perched on. She abandoned her next target to shoot at him instead, but he dodged her arrow and grinned up at her, his features shifting to reveal the telltale fangs and ridged forehead of a vampire. Uh-oh.
Heart pounding, she reached for a new arrow, but the vampire had already taken a running leap, grabbed the edge of the roof, and was pulling himself up...until something yanked him back. Katniss ran over to the place where he had disappeared, dropped to her hands and knees in order to peer out over the edge, and saw that Peeta had caught the vampire by the legs, bringing her would-be assailant crashing down - right on top of him! Peeta did his best to throw off the enraged vampire, but he was in a bad position, pinned underneath the creature's body. The vampire leaned in, bringing his fangs to Peeta's neck...
"No!" Unable to shoot for fear that her arrow would go right through the vampire and skewer Peeta too, Katniss jumped off the roof; the vampire lifted his head and snarled at her, but Peeta wrapped his limbs around him in a grappling clinch hold he had learned while participating in Twelve's school wrestling team. Unfortunately, the vampire was a lot stronger than any of his opponents from school.
"Hurry, Katniss, I can't hold him much longer!"
Knowing she had no hope of driving a stake through his armor with her bare hands, she drew her knife and went for a weaker spot, plunging the blade into the vampire's neck again and again until at last the vertebrae separated. As he crumbled away to nothing, Katniss pitched forward, ending up sprawled on top of Peeta. They lay there for a moment, both panting from exertion; then, as the pounding of blood in their ears tapered off, they slowly became aware that the sounds of fighting had ceased. Looking around, they saw the Peacekeepers - those that weren't already down - being forced to their knees as the rebels confiscated their weapons.
"Is it...over?" Katniss asked hesitantly, hardly daring to believe it.
"It's over," Peeta assured her, his own incredulity rapidly giving way to jubilation. "We won!"
He started to push himself up on his elbows, but Katniss didn't get off him fast enough, so that their foreheads crashed together...and somehow, so did their lips. The kiss only lasted for a second or two before they realized what they were doing and wrenched themselves apart, gaping at each other in horrified embarrassment; then they both started talking at once.
"Katniss, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, Peeta, it wasn't your fault-"
They broke off, and then Peeta said, "I'm sorry, you go ahead."
"Okay." Katniss took a deep breath...and whatever she was about to say was drowned out by a coughing fit as she inhaled a lungful of vampire dust.
Darn Peacekeeper vampire - even after he's dead he still managed to ruin the moment. I haven't really said much about pairings before now since I didn't want to commit to anything until I'd spent enough time with these characters to get a feel for how things were going to develop, but now I think I'm ready to officially declare Everlark the endgame here, because it's pretty obvious which way the wind's blowing...to everyone except Katniss, that is. But don't worry, she'll catch on eventually.
As for the battle, I hope it came out okay; we already know Angel and Illyria are awesome, so I wanted to focus on Katniss experiencing her first real fight since the Games and how she still struggles with her new role compared to some of the more hardened warriors.
