Disclaimer: hunger games does not belong to me
Chapter 4-Rain
The car pulled Katniss up to a fairly large house on a hill that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The house looked almost brand new, she assumed a new build after the rebellion. District 9 was not what she expected. This district was pretty rural with most houses spread out. There was a lot of mountains and hills, and it was very, very cold. She was used to the cold being outdoors a lot in District 12, but being much further north she wasn't used to this kind of cold. While in the Capitol she was always kept warm indoors. And here she was much further north than in the Capitol.
The driver told she was expected to go inside and that the door was unlocked. She hesitated at first but gripped her luggage and knocked on the front door before entering. "Hello?" she called out. There was a room off to the side of the door and a staircase leading upstairs. She heard a voice coming from the foyer hallway say "come in". She followed the voice and when she walked into a large kitchen she saw a woman sitting at a small cooking island right in the middle of it.
Rain was not was she was expecting. Katniss expected a woman close to her mother's age. This woman looked to be about 10 years older than Katniss-possibly 35 but had a youthful appearance. She had a slightly darker complexion than Katniss-thinking she could have fit in the Seam easily. Though her eyes were not grey. Her hair is black with dark brown, almost black eyes.
"Please have a seat, you can set your luggage over there" the woman said to Katniss in a deep voice and pointed to a living room off to the right of the kitchen. Katniss put her luggage down by the couch and took a seat beside the woman on the island.
Before Katniss could introduce herself the woman looked at her questioningly and said, "who are you?"
"Katniss Everdeen. My mom said I was to stay with you for a while-" but before she could finish the woman said again, "who are you?"
Katniss was taken aback, obviously this was not the answer she wanted so instead she said, "Uh, I was the Mockingjay of the rebellion."
She looked at her again with narrow eyes and said with an even more annoyed, but stern tone, "who are you?"
Katniss this time understood what she was asking. She looked down at the table and said, "I'm no one, not anymore."
"That's why your mother asked if you could come here" the woman said with a smirk on her face.
"Where's here? What is this place? And why did I have to come here in order for me to meet you? Katniss was getting aggravated by the woman. She didn't even introduce herself.
"You are in District 9 and this is my house." She replied in a nonchalant manner.
"I know that! How come I had to come here alone by myself? I don't even know you!" While Katniss didn't feel afraid in this house she didn't exactly feel welcome either. Over the years she has honed into her senses enough to know when a situation is safe and when it is not. And right now her, her senses told her this place was safe. But it didn't make her feel any better.
"Your mother asked that I help you on a spiritual journey. To find yourself. To let go of the past. To be able to move on in peace. In order to do that you have to go it alone. No one you are familiar with can join you."
Katniss couldn't believe what she was hearing. A spiritual journey? That sounded ridiculous. "I don't need to find myself, I have a life and a boyfriend who needs me back in District 12".
"Yes, a boyfriend whom you have become very dependent on. During the Quarter Quell it was said the two of you often relied on each other's company in order to sleep at night". She again had that smirk on her face Katniss wanted to slap off of her.
"So? What's wrong with that?" Katniss knew she was getting defensive.
"Everything. It is not always healthy to be so dependent on someone."
Katniss was getting angrier by the second. Who was this woman to tell her that her relationship with Peeta wasn't healthy? She knew nothing about them. "Look—I don't know who you are, but this is NOT what I was expecting."
"I don't mean to upset you. I guess we haven't gotten off to a good start. My name is Rainbow Brigewater" she held out her hand for Katniss to shake, which she did reluctantly.
"Katniss Everdeen" she mumbled in reply.
"But you can call me Rain. I'm sure your mother already told you this, but we met at the hospital she works at in District 4. She's a lovely woman and very warm."
Katniss snorted in response. She figured this woman doesn't hold back, why should she. "Warm. That's not exactly a word I use to describe her."
"I have heard about your history with each other. Don't think she doesn't regret the things she has done. But enough about your mother, we will deal with your issues with her in due time. First, we need to work on your issues with your nightmares."
"What about them? I have them, I feel safe with Peeta by my side at night. What more is there to work on?" She didn't see how this issue could be changed.
"I can help you with that" she said leaning forward. "It is all part of the journey you will be taking."
Katniss doubted her, but replied with "okay, when do we start?"
"Tomorrow, we will be heading out of District 9 into the wild territory. Your mother told you about where I originally come from correct?"
"Yes, she said even though you were born in District 9 your father is one of the Natives. That growing up you often jumped the fence of District 9 to see him." Her mother told her the brief backstory on the long train ride.
"Correct. My mother is from District 9. That's what keeps me here."
"How did she meet him then? They say the Natives never come into Panem's territory." Katniss couldn't help but be curious. It wasn't often she met someone who willingly jumped a forbidden fence on a regular basis. She only knew one other. A person she didn't care to think about at the moment.
"That's a story for another day. Get some rest, I have some food if you are hungry. We leave first thing in the morning." Rain got up and showed Katniss where the food was and also showed her to her room.
It was a nice room. It was painted yellow and had a small white desk in the corner. Katniss was under the impression this room was not used often. The yellow reminded her of the color of a baby duck. She then thought of her little duck and cried herself to sleep that night, waking up screaming after having a nightmare of watching Prim burn up in front of her eyes.
It took several minutes before her breathing returned to normal and was able to calm herself down. She hoped whatever Rain had planned for her worked. Because she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on living like this. It wasn't in her nature to blindly trust someone she didn't know. But she felt safe with this woman, as strange as that was to her.
The next morning they left early just as Rain said they would. Rain's house was not far from the fence that divided District 9 from the wild wilderness that lay beyond. Katniss took a backpack that contained a sleeping bag, supplies clothes, and the small bag Peeta gave her that she still hadn't opened up yet. Rain had a backpack as well and had two small handguns for both her and Katniss.
"Just in case. There are animals here you won't see in Panem" Rain said as they reached the fence. Katniss nodded and took the gun.
It took them three days to get to the village. During those three days Katniss got to know Rain better, often talking by the fire at night. Katniss learned how Rain was into healing just like her mother. While she worked at District 9's local hospital, she had so much business taking care of the local people in her district she didn't have set hours there. That was how she was able to take the time off to go with Katniss to see the Natives. She also explained how Katniss would need her as an interpreter, for the Native people spoke an ancient language and most spoke very little, if any English. Katniss told Rain a little more about herself, but not a whole lot. She mostly just listened while Rain talked. Rain never seemed to mind. Katniss was under the impression her mother filled her in on how Katniss was.
Katniss did see animals she had never seen in District 12. While deer was common in the woods of District 12 she saw a very large animal with extremely large horns coming out the sides of its head. It looked similar to a deer but was much larger. She wished she had her bow and kicked herself for not thinking to bring it. Rain told her the Natives would have a bow/arrow set for her when they arrived.
When they finally arrived at the village. Katniss saw what she thought she would. In a large open grassy field she saw about 40 small tents. They looked to be made from animal skin. The tents were triangular shaped and had an opening at the bottom. She had heard growing up that the Natives lived in these tents. She couldn't remember the term though for what they were officially called.
"Tepee" Rain had said when Katniss asked her. "They do a good job of keeping one cool in the summer and warm in the winter". Katniss was hoping they had a tepee for her and Rain, because it was definitely tough sleeping out here in this cold. It seemed even colder out in the wilderness than when she was officially in District 9.
"Come on, my family is expecting you" Rain said with a large smile and showed Katniss the way to their tepee. Katniss saw a lot of people who looked similar to Rain only with slightly darker skin and darker hair if that was possible. They looked at Katniss with curious faces and some pointed and spoke in a language she never heard. She figured not all of them were told about her arrival. Some looked at her with kind eyes, some looked at her with disdain. She hoped more than ever the stores she heard growing up about these people were not true, because if they were, she would definitely be sleeping with Rain's handgun close to her side that night.
Katniss learned pretty quickly none of the stuff she had heard growing up in 12 was correct which did not come as a surprise. Her father told her not to believe everything she heard, especially from the town people. These people were not savages, in fact, they were anything but. They lived off the land, without electricity or plumbing. They hunted for food (which Katniss certainly didn't object to) and used all portions of the animal for the village. While some of them didn't appear very friendly, most were and treated her with respect. She wasn't able to talk to any of them, which at first she was okay with being the recluse person she was. But after a while she got tired of Rain interpreting for her all the time and told Rain she wanted her to teach her some basic words.
"Sure, I can do that" Rain said with a bright smile. "I'm shocked it only took a week for you to get tired of me translating for you!"
Katniss was surprised. Had she been there a week already? Rain didn't even begin anything with her. She guessed getting used to being in such a foreign place distracted her from the task at hand. Plus, she was kept busy helping out in the village with daily tasks. "When are we going to start on my journey?" Katniss said sarcastically. "Since I've been here a week and all".
"Funny you should say that. I was thinking we'd start tomorrow. I wanted you to get used to the people here. You will be with them a lot when this begins."
"Let's get to it then" Katniss said with a matter of fact tone. While she enjoyed being away from Panem and out in the wilderness, she had a job to do and a life she wanted to get back to. She couldn't waste any more precious time away from Peeta. There was no way to contact him all the way out here and she had no idea how he was doing.
Overhead a small object was hidden in the trees off to the side of the field. The object was taking photographs and sending them back to the Capitol remotely.
"Well, what do we have here?" the person in the control room of the Capitol said to the person sitting next to them. "Looks like the Mockingjay has come out of hiding and is with the Savages. I wonder what she is up to".
