Start of Chapter
No one walked out of the house, deciding it was way too cold for that. Instead, they simply stopped talking, walking back upstairs to bed.
Next day
Katniss woke up extra early, long before the sun rose, and set off to the woods. Without anyone waking up at the slight noise she was producing, she practically ran out of the house and towards the electric fence.
Listening for the soft humming, she stopped at the fence, squinting in concentration. There was nothing, so she ducked between the bottom two wires, entering the forest.
When she was there, she finally felt at home. Smiling, she bolted through the trees, singing three melodic notes steadily. She spent the rest of the day hunting, oblivious to exactly how much panic she was causing the other victors.
When she returned, coming in view of the house they were occupying, there were shouts of alarm, and loud footsteps were heard inside the house. "Sweetheart, where were you!?" Haymitch called out, running out the door. Katniss looked at him, confused, "What do you mean where was I? I was trying to survive. Now, excuse me, but I have to get inside," she said, shouldering him to let her through the doorway.
Once she was inside, Johanna stomped up to her, demanding she answer the question, "I told you, I was trying to survive. Now go away." When she hadn't answered anyone, they decided to leave her be, knowing she would never answer their questions.
Katniss cooked her meat thoroughly, making just enough soup for herself. She sat down at the table, ignorant of the other victors staring at her and her soup. "So, what's your strengths and weaknesses?" She asked, looking up from her food for a moment. Brutus paused for a moment, before replying, "And why should we tell you?" Katniss retorted, rolling her eyes, "Because without me, you won't survive."
After a bit of contemplating, the victors finally agreed to tell her, on the condition she would help keep them alive, "Fine, I don't care. Just tell me, so I can put you guys to use." Everyone had told her their strengths, and none of them were to survive in the event there was no food, so she got up and walked over to the stove, deciding to make more soup.
She plonked down the bowls full of soup on the table, rolling her eyes when they frowned at the small portion. "This all?" Brutus demanded, looking at his bowl. Katniss scowled, "Yes, that's all. If you want to survive, you'll have to learn to not eat too much food. Once this is finished, if you survive, you can get back to filling your appetites, but get ready for a year of meat, berries, and soup, because that's pretty much all we eat here." At the victors' outraged expressions, she sighed, "We're going to run out of food if you eat any more than I have given you, so suck it up and eat."
With that, she walked away, not giving anyone else the chance to complain.
For the next few weeks, the schedule was the same, Katniss would hunt, and the other victors would find something else to do. Finnick would sometimes fish in the river, Haymitch would simply get drunk with the liquor he got from his house, and the other victors would train with their weapons.
However, one day, this changed. When Katniss came home one night, she was limping, something wrong with her leg. Johanna noticed this, "Um…do you need help?" "Yes, get me that bag," she said, pointing towards a red bag on the counter. Johanna handed it to her. Katniss dug around in it for a while, before seeing a small bottle of cream and bandages.
Katniss winced as she smouldered the cream all over her leg, groaning in pain at some period of time. Finally, she got to her pant trousers and tugged it upwards, revealing raw flesh. She looked towards Finnick, who was playing with a rope, not noticing Katniss come in, "Finnick! Can you get some water?" He nodded, noticing Katniss' position.
Finnick must have sprinted there, because only moments later, he was back, panting and leaning against the wall, "Well, that was certainly a run." Katniss only rolled her eyes, holding her hand out for the water.
Once she retrieved the water, she carefully cleaned out the wound, screaming out in pain once, before closing her eyes and composing herself. When she opened her eyes again, everyone was staring at her, "What!?" She snapped angrily, before realising something, "You have to come with me tomorrow. Get ready at midnight, we're leaving at one."
The next day – twelve o'clock
Katniss whistled loudly, waking all the victors up with a startle. Johanna demanded, "What was that for!? Couldn't you like – wake us up normally!?" Katniss shouted from downstairs, "It would take too long, and hurry up, we're going at one."
Everyone hustled, beginning to pull on their clothes, getting ready for the day's adventure. Katniss' leg still hadn't healed fully but was no longer limping.
"Come on," Katniss guided them to the fence, pulling Brutus back when he stepped too close, "No, just wait." She listened for some sort of humming, unsurprised when she didn't hear anything, "Ok, come on." She leapt over the fence this time, not wanting to bend down.
When they had all crossed, she led them through the forest, listening carefully as they walked. "Ok Finnick, you can go to that lake," she said, pointing towards a large body of water, "Oh, and you can swim if you like. Actually, don't. Not yet, we'll all swim together." She moved on, depositing the victors until she got to her shack. She smiled brightly when she saw it. Opening the door, she stepped inside, dumping her jacket on the small couch and climbed up the stairs. "Buttercup!" She called out to the cat, hearing a soft 'meow!' She rubbed the cat's ears gently as she lifted Buttercup in the air. "Come on!"
She brought the cat out of the small shack, putting it back down on the forest floor, "Go on, hunt!" She smiled again, grabbing her bow and prowling through the forest.
When it had come midday, the victors all met up again, mouths opening wide as Katniss dragged all her game back. "How did you hunt so much today but so little before!?" Johanna demanded, outraged. Katniss shrugged, "I just didn't give you the meat from before." She pointed towards a small opening in the trees, "I stored it there. Didn't think we needed it all."
She skipped towards the lake, stripping down to her bathing suit they were forced to wear underneath their clothes. She then dived into the water gracefully, making only a few ripples in the water. Smiling, the gestured for Finnick to come over, "Race 'ya!" Finnick chuckled, smiling brightly, "You're on!" He cannonballed into the water, chasing Katniss around until they tired, "What happened to your cut? How did you even get it?" Katniss sighed, "Well, now it's a mere graze. Still don't know how that medicine works so quickly. And I was chased by some mutts. Unfortunate, really. Bad timing."
He nodded, smiling, "Ok, should we push Haymitch into the water?" He whispered into her ear childishly, "Yes!" She shouted back, grinning evilly. She soundlessly got out of the lake, tiptoeing behind Haymitch to his alarm, "Sweetheart, what are you doing?" Katniss shook her head, smiling, "I want to show you some of my diving skills!" Haymitch nodded suspiciously, not quite believing Katniss' reasoning. Suddenly, she pushed him into the water, and he flailed around for minutes, shouting, "I can't swim! I can't swim! Help! Why would you do that…!" Katniss simply rose her eyebrows, muttering something about stupidity before shouting back, "Just stand up!" Haymitch did so, confused until his feet touched the bottom.
His cheeks lit on fire, realising he had just made a big scene out of nothing. Johanna burst into laughter, jumping in the water herself, soon followed by everyone, whether they could swim or not.
The rest of the day was spent in the water, which they only got out of after Katniss' skin started to wrinkle a bit. Then, she had an idea. She yelled in fake alarm, bolting in the direction of the meadow, only just hearing the footsteps behind her. She faked falling in the meadow, laughing joyfully when the others did too. She rolled around for a bit, drying herself off.
The sun had fallen ever so slightly, indicating night-time. "We have to go back now." The walk wasn't too far, but nevertheless, it tired them out, and when they finally entered the house again, they each collapsed on their beds, wincing.
Next day
Katniss got ready for hunting, fully intent on leaving the others behind after the day they had. However, what she didn't know was that the other victors had already gotten up, deciding to follow after her.
Katniss ran to the fence, the other victors only just keeping up. She stopped at the fence like always, this time frowning, before looking around and seeing an overhanging tree. She smiled and started to climb it, and when she was at the tip, she dropped down flawlessly, amazing the victors.
"Um…how do we do that? If the fence is electrified, then we have to climb the tree, but not everyone can climb trees," Johanna whispered to Haymitch. He shrugged, "Everyone who can will follow her, those who can't will do their normal jobs. Johanna nodded, climbing the tree immediately, and dropping down exactly like Katniss had minutes before.
When all the victors who could climb trees had dropped on the other side of the fence, they sped off in the vague direction Katniss had gone.
They finally caught up, seeing Katniss hunt with deadly precision, singing three notes merrily, and smiling brightly. This didn't exactly shock the victors, if there's something special, then it can make you an entirely different person.
They watched her throughout the day, and she did almost the exact same thing, hunt for ages, while singing and smiling. It honestly seemed a bit boring, but of course, they would never know.
When it came midday, the victors finally decided to go, not wanting Katniss to know of their presence. However, they must have done something wrong, for Katniss had known they had been there all along.
Night-time
"Well, you guys are most certainly not quiet." The victors cocked their heads to the side in fake confusion, "What do you mean?" Finnick asked, voice smooth. "What I mean is that you guys were way too loud when you went to the forest. If you wanted to follow me, then you should've sent the quietest or something." Johanna frowned, "You could hear us the whole time?" Haymitch's eyes widened, "Johanna! You weren't supposed to reveal yourself!" Katniss simply rolled her eyes, "Look, don't do it next time, ok?" When the victors nodded, she stomped upstairs loudly, not knowing exactly why.
The months passed quickly, doing the same thing over and over again, must be pretty boring for the victors. However, unbeknownst to the others, every day, Katniss was being attacked by mutts to keep the viewers entertained.
Every day, it got harder to fend them off, but still, she did it. When there was only one more month left, she got a minor injury, but nevertheless, had to stop hunting for the day, instead deciding to go back early and take her game with here.
"Well, here we are." She stopped in confusion, "What are you doing?" "Getting to know you," Johanna answered, unbothered by her early arrival.
Katniss narrowed her eyes, walking out quietly. She hummed as she treated herself, only wincing slightly when the cream hit her injury.
The victors were relieved, there was only a day left before they could all go back, so no one hunted, instead deciding to play a game. "Truth or dare, spin the bottle version." "Um…what?"
"Well, spin it!"
Katniss spun the bottle, and it landed on Johanna, "How did your family die?"
"Snow set my backyard on fire."
Johanna then spun the bottle, landing on Finnick.
It repeated over and over again, until Johanna had finally had enough. She stomped over to the bottle, picking it up and putting it back down, pointing it at Katniss. "Ok, Katniss, why do you have such a hard mask to get through?"
She shrugged, "It's natural. Key to survival."
Johanna nodded although she was still a bit confused.
"Oh well, lets get to bed. Tomorrow we're going back!"
They all nodded, heading upstairs to get some sleep.
End of Chapter