The next chapter will take part over the same time frame but follow Cinna.
I do not own The Hunger Games. Please let me know if you see any errors.
The story is rated M for a reason, this chapter implies a lot of dark themes, read at your own risk. I'm going to start making Finnick and Katniss moments soon.
She finds out that running with Brutus is a weekly activity. Enobaria tells her its his way of gauging her endurance progress, she's pretty sure he just likes scaring her.
She's been training with them everyday for a little over a month. Previous training had consisted of four to five days a week with weekends off, there's a clear difference between tribute trainers and victors. She's now hitting half her targets at every training exercise, they're not killing hits but they stick. Brutus claps her on the shoulder when she impresses him. It nearly knocks her into the floor.
Last week they had introduced her to swords and when she dropped one they taped one to each of her hands. They didn't remove them until the next mornings training and she had to cancel everything else planned for the day, including bathing. She didn't drop another sword.
She's up to learning three weapons at this point, before long she'll have a basic understanding of everything imaginable. It's exhilarating. Katniss has never been stronger. Last week she'd run for 41 minutes before loosing her stomach.
The targets move today. They move in a strait line, to the left, to the right, forward. When she figures out she needs to shoot where they're headed and not where they are things start picking up. The faster the targets, the farther her aim. She hits as many as she would if they were stationary.
"Tomorrow bring your mutt." Why would he want Slyth here? Knows from experience that they don't get along. "You have it so you might as well use it, try riding its back. Saw the district one girly doin' it from outside the castle a while back." Gold rode Slyth? Gold barely likes Slyth. It's a good idea anyway.
Pelenos steps in during her history lesson with some history artifacts. He's brought her two marble statues and a box of beautiful hair pins made with pearls and gems. Ramon sees himself out.
"Will you be staying for coffee? I can have some snacks brought in."
"I thought you preferred tea? No no, anyway, I must be running out."
She'd been needing to talk to him. "I was going to sent you an invitation but since you're here, next months castle party. I've been so busy lately I haven't made it out much. I'm trying to broaden my image, so i'm making time to go. I'd love to see you there?" He promises to make an appearance and she pecks his lips as he leaves.
She hates that she can't quite bring herself to hate him.
When Ramon returns he brings her family history books. She's seen them all before but it's never bad to brush up, just in case she needs to reference something for an interview, besides Ramon is her favorite teacher so she can't say no to him.
Her great grandfather and great grandmother sitting at matching desks while her grandfather sits in front of the camera on the floor, all dashing with their matching blond hair and blue eyes. Not even at four does Coriolanus smile. The desks have been removed and thrones take there place, her grandfather sits two feet from her smiling grandmother. She's expecting and the glow is obvious.
Her family takes a photo yearly. Recently they've moved to a yearly painting, they both set aside a whole day for the painter to capture the years growth. "Roman, this photo isn't dated for the year my grandmother gave birth to my mother.." This must be her uncles pregnancy, the one no one has ever mentioned to her.
"Ah, this is the year your grandmother miscarried. A baby boy. Your grandfather was always very private with the children of the family, he didn't address the accident for six years. Your mother was introduced one year later, when she was six. It'd be a different world today had the child lived." It seems she's not been the only one left in the dark.
She can't help drawing similarities between the two moments. A hidden uncle and a loved mother, a hidden cousin and her. Her grandfather had hidden them all from the world originally. All but her. She want's to know the deciding factor for who is and is not placed in the public's eye. Is her uncle still alive and if so where has he been all these years?
The next photo skips seven years. Strange. The thrones are five feet apart now, her six year old mother sits at her grandfathers feet. Her grandmother doesn't smile. The next three years have similar photos, after that there's only one throne. One king. One princess. "Ramon, were no photo's taken between my grandmothers miscarriage and my mothers announcement?"
"No little princess, an annual photo has been taken every year since the new age. Your mother most likely won't be shown in the previous photo's though, her arrival hadn't been announced yet." Katniss asks him to try and find them anyway.
She finishes the rest of her lessons, math and science, technology and investing, and music and art. When she goes to training with district one she asks them to get moving targets. Gold gives her the side eye, Katniss is planning to tell her about her secret training tonight. Gold is her only real ally right now and it wouldn't hurt to have a professional to spar with.
"We need to talk more about Pelenos, we still haven't found a solution and I know you've got some ideas that you're not sharing." Gold doesn't know about her relationship with Pelenos, how close they've always been.
"That's not what I wanted to tell you, trust me I have a plan for taking care of him... I've been training with some of the district two victors for a little over a month." She tells her about the training, Gold says it sounds inhumane. It feels inhumane most of the time. She even breaks the news about her new cousin who seems to be gunning for the throne and kneed her in the face, how she hasn't heard from or of him since. Gold tells her she'll look into the trainers, 'the prince may be under lock and key but surely I can find a hint about their whereabouts'. It's smart.
Two weeks pass. 50lbs get added on her back while she runs. 24 minutes.
The party is a week away. Cinna gives her a strange look when she tells him he doesn't have to escort her there. He's never been officially asked to escort her but it's more of their tradition, arrive late, break off and drink, leave early, and order drinks and sweets to her room where they eventually sleep off the night.
The day before the Party she skips all her lessons and training. She told Enobaria but ran from the room before Brutus had the chance to arrive. She's hitting almost every target now, can hold a sword in each hand, throw knifes, and shoots her bow with precision. They're speeding up the targets next week and adding in hand to hand combat, it bothers her that she never manages to finish a goal before a bigger one is given to her. One step forward two steps back, it's an endless cycle or never being good enough.
She arrives earlier than usual to the party. Left Slyth behind. Pelenos had told her when he would be able to make it and she wanted to meet him, he waits for her at the door instead.
Her dress is something that was once known as old Hollywood style. Short and sweet, it wraps around her neck and comes down in two strips to cover her chest attaching at the waist. Her back and arms are open. Her hair is in a messy style on her head with the pearl pins he'd given her. she wears long socks peachy orange socks without shoes. The clothes look beautiful but she wishes they were something else. She looks like a small flame.
He spins with her when she leaps into his arms. The victors are openly staring at them, this isn't how she behaves in public, isn't how she behaves in private, isn't how she behaves with anyone but Pelenos. She sees Cinna with them. Brutus looks like he's attended just to yell at her.
"ORANGE! You're wearing O-rhaaan-GE!"
They dance, she dances around him so he doesn't step on her feet. He brings her drink after drink, while they talk and laugh off to the side. Usually when they're together is the only time Katniss can be free to enjoy herself without fear of repercussions, but she's finding it hard to do that knowing what she's got planned for the evening. She needs a cause for her grandfather to terminate this man, she's viewed as family, and that's what she's come for tonight. Thirteen is only a year younger then fourteen after all..
She figures it's about time to start putting an end to the worst night of her life, so she asks Pelenos to bring her something strong and jokingly tells him to carry her off to bed if she passes out.
She'd wondered if she'd been wrong to accept the sickly woman's stories without evidence but she sees the way Pelenos watches her, twirls strands of her hair, and trails his hands up when he fixes her stocking. She'll just have to make a cause. The victors can do this, why can't she?
The snakebite he brings her tastes strange. It's okay if he's drugged it. Better if he has.
"Let's take a stroll through the rose gardens before bed tonight princess, they're always locked off at night but I have a key so we can be alone." She takes his hand as they leave through the doors but she doesn't remember going down the steps.