Younger
Katniss was younger when her father died, younger when all the things she went through happened. She was younger when she was put through a seemingly never-ending nightmare. She was younger, but no less gifted, she was younger, but no less smart, maybe even more so.
Third Person
Katniss, at the age of five, stood next to her currently pregnant mother, smiling brightly, awaiting her dad's reappearance.
The train slowed to a stop, attaining Katniss' full and unwavering attention as the doors slowly slid open. "Daddy!" Katniss cried, enveloping her father in a hug, completely oblivious to the figures stepping out in amusement. These people were the victors of the previous games, and her dad had been on a trip to the capitol, seeing as he had been requested by the President himself.
Brutus and Haymitch smiled, delighted at the young child's reaction. As the happy family walked back towards their home, they couldn't help but wonder, When will it end?
Weeks later
"A mine explosion has occurred in district twelve, there were two deaths, Florian Everdeen and Manda Thomas," the news lady reported to the shock of the victors. They knew this man; they'd been in the capitol with them!
Meanwhile, in district twelve, a sobbing Katniss ran through the mines swiftly, despite her short legs and unadvanced endurance system. She frantically searched the area around her, looking for anything to remember her father. At the very end of the mine, she saw only one thing she recognised, a golden Mockingjay pin, the very same one her father had been wearing when he had passed. She broke out in a fresh round of sobs, running back towards her now two-week-old sister.
A fellow miner sighed and announced, "Florian Everdeen was a good man, he died evacuating the people around him, and as a result of this, was one of only two deaths which could have been many more if it wasn't for him." He sighed in remorse, looking at the two young children, and their mother who was staring at nothing.
In just weeks, a happy and loving family could turn into a broken and torn one.
Suddenly, a town kid ran with full speed, not noticing all the commotion, and bumping into a peacekeeper who hadn't yet noticed the child. With a shout, the trigger was accidentally pulled, and the bullet plunged into no other than Willow Everdeen, the mother of two children who had just been orphaned.
Everyone stood shocked, a woman of innocence had just been killed. Breaking through the deafening silence was a gruff voice, "Oi! Let me take Katniss and Primrose, I'm their uncle. Mother's brother." The peacekeepers simply nodded, paying no attention to the man in front of them. His cheeks were stained with dust, a scowl painted permanently across his face, "Well!?" He demanded, gesturing for the children to follow him.
Nodding fearfully, Katniss obeyed him, still cuddling her baby sister to her chest. They disappeared from sight only moments later, the children trailing behind the man that had claimed to be their uncle.
Weeks later – Katniss' POV
By now, I had learnt what I was supposed to do and what not to. My uncle, Belgrano wasn't extremely welcoming. Almost immediately, he had grabbed onto me, and dragged me towards a bedroom. The walls were completely empty, no reminder of his life whatsoever. There was only one bed, though it looked completely hard, slightly different to the ones I had gotten used to since my childhood.
There, he had left me for a long period of time, leaving me to think and observe my surroundings. First, it had seemed he had preferred my sister, he had smiled whenever she had, and was genuinely nicer to her than to me. Second, do not mess with him. I had broken a plate once, and his reaction was not the most pleasing, his eyes had burned in an indescribable rage, face alight with anger, and then he had stomped over to me, slapping me across the face. It had hurt, not overwhelmingly so, but it still did, and I couldn't help but wonder how the passing years would be.
Katniss' POV
It had been years since my father and mother had died, years since the abuse had started, years since my uncle had taken me in. Every single day, my uncle would take me into the room and beat me. What hurt the most though, was not the scars I was given, but the betrayal that someone in my family had done something so cruel to me, and Prim wasn't even aware of it.
She was only five, and I was ten, she didn't understand much, but I knew. I knew that my uncle had favoured her and knew he would never even dare to lay a finger on her, he simply loved her too much. I had always wondered why he disliked me so much. What had I done to earn his mistreatment?
I had pondered these questions for ages, though I could never seem to find an answer. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I would never know and stopped thinking about it so much.
I suppose there was one good thing that came out of being the hated child. He barely even noticed when I was out, simply not bothering to look. In any other circumstances, I probably would've been upset, but this gave me an opportunity to escape to the woods I loved. My dad had showed it to me, knowing I knew full well of what was happening.
In the woods, I had hunted for four years, not being able to bear the so limited amount of food I was given by my uncle. On a normal basis, I would hunt, though normally not eat the meat until late at night. Sometimes, I would gather, and only eat the Katniss roots I was named after.
That was until today, the day when my sister died. I had gone into her room to wake her, but instead found her on the bed, her now lifeless body pale and ice cold. Shocked, I screamed loud, though not loud enough for my uncle to hear.
I had been waiting for the perfect moment to escape, I had already made plans, but I had stayed behind because of Prim, because I simply couldn't leave her behind. Now she was dead, and I was almost lost, but I could still escape.
There was a problem though, a pretty big one. In my planning, I hadn't quite figured out where I would go, or what I would do during the reaping for the games. I was ten, and I had two years until I had to participate, but I still had to plan. Was it worth it to go? I would say a definite yes, though I still had to figure out those minor details. It was simply too risky to escape without all the information.
I sought refuge in my bedroom, trying to fight back my tears over my sister's death. No, I had to pull myself together, now I could escape, and she would've wanted me to take the chance.
Later
Now I realised the resolution to my problems. I would run to Haymitch, he had been with dad a few times before, and I remembered him. Maybe…maybe I could run away to the woods?
I shook my head, there was no way that would work, but it could be my backup plan. If it just so happened to be that Haymitch simply didn't want to help me, then I could run away into the woods, but I really hoped that wouldn't happen.
With the victors
"Haymitch!" Johanna called as soon as she and the other victors had stepped off the train. Haymitch snorted, annoyed, "What?" Johanna rolled her eyes, "You know the man on the news before?" She thought for a moment, "Florian Everdeen?" Haymitch was surprised, "You remember that? Well, what do you want?" "I want to know what happened to his daughter. Wasn't his wife pregnant or something?" Haymitch nodded, "Yes, the daughter was taken in by an uncle. There was something fishy about him. As for the pregnancy, she gave birth about two weeks before she died." Finnick interjected this time, "Died!? I thought the father died, not the mother!" Haymitch was shocked for a few moments, "Oh, I didn't tell you? She was killed soon after, by accident."
Just as Finnick was about to reply, the victors heard a soft sob coming from the further up the street. Cashmere's head snapped towards the sound immediately, determining which direction the sound came from.
Suddenly, a small girl with unshed tears walked out. Haymitch, recognising her immediately, cried out, "Katniss!?" The girl looked up, nodding shyly, "Hello. I'm Katniss. I ran away." Johanna arched her eyebrow, "What about your sister? Where is she?" To the utter confusion of the victors, the girl burst into tears while wailing, "She died!" The victors shared looks, "How?" "I don't know! I went to wake her up and she was just – dead!"
The victors took her into the house, calming the hysterical girl named Katniss. Blood dripped onto the floor, but from where, it was unknown. Johanna, noticing this, cried, "Why is there blood on the floor!?" Katniss paused for a second, before rolling her sleeve up. The victors looked at it, disgusted. There was a fairly big wound, blood dripping down from it, and it looked pretty fresh.
Finnick, not having much experience with children but still being good at communicating with them, asked gently, "Where did you get that from?" He said it in such a way that even Katniss trusted him, "Well, my uncle," she said sheepishly while wincing as Cashmere treated it. She paused for a moment, silent as her wound was treated, and then turned around and pulled her shirt off. Facing the victors were multiple scars, open wounds and horrid cuts. "Your uncle did this to you?" Johanna demanded upon seeing them. Katniss nodded, shrugging moments after, "He's done this since I was five, no idea why." Haymitch declared bluntly, "Because you remind him of your father. He always hated him." Katniss, nodded, accepting the answer because Haymitch had known her father.
"Anyways, want to stay here?" Katniss nodded, smiling, "Yes please!"
Over the next two years, Katniss was taken care of by the victors who just so happened to be in 12 at the time. She had been given decent meals, but never finished all of it, she had been given a soft bed, but never slept in it.
The victors took care of her, and over time, taught her many skills including knife throwing and fishing.
Years later
"Katniss Everdeen!" Katniss had been called for the 74th hunger games. She was given a death sentence, and most of all, if she died, it would break all the victors' hearts.
Their emotional survival depended on her. Depended on the twelve-year-old girl from district 12 with a drunk mentor who cared deeply for her. She was surrounded by love, and if, just if she died, then she would have died happy, and the victors' hearts would be broken, but they would accept it.
Later
It had been days after Katniss had won the hunger games, and so far, she hadn't even met all the victors because of how busy they were.
Katniss had done so well, at such a young age, and no one could believe it, no one but the victors. They could believe it. Afterall, she was taught by the best, but no one had to know that.
Life had been decent, decent for everyone, but for an unlucky few, life had been hardcore. Katniss had been one of those unlucky few, but she had pushed through it.
The end.
Ok, this is the end. This was a one shot. I was going to do a much longer one with more details, a better ending, and not many gaps like I had. However, I simply wasn't feeling this story. Every single time a write a story, I simply must feel a connection. If I don't, then the story won't go well, and I'll rush through it. Just saying, I feel like this story was a huge fail, but I didn't really want to scrap it. If anyone wants to use the storyline, they can, but maybe you can credit me? Thanks.