Iris
I hate being hungry.
I've only been homeless for three months and I'm not used to trying to find food on the streets. Even worse, the war means that people are a lot more careful about what they throw out.
I could ask for help. I could beg to be taken in by someone. But that would just be rubbing salt in my wounds, the final nail in the coffin.
I haven't eaten at all today. The pain's so bad, I can't move and I have to curl up in an alleyway and try to think of something that isn't food.
How do those low-lifes from the districts manage it?
"Are you okay?" A voice asks. A woman's voice, low and husky with the hint of an accent. That's not strange. Nobody on the streets talks like me.
I look up to see a girl wearing a grimy hoodie and short, dark blue hair. She looks homeless as well.
"A little hungry," I say. "It's okay. I'm used to it. I'm slimming."
The other girl laughs. "Then I guess you don't want this."
She pulls a sandwich out of her pocket. My stomach rumbles.
"Want it?" She asks.
"If you insist," I say.
The girl sits down beside me, handing me the sandwich. She looks about my age.
"I'm Khione," she says. I only half hear it. I'm busy wolfing down the sandwich.
"Iris," I say, once I've finished, grateful that she doesn't expect a surname. I can pass for a normal girl. There are a lot of normal girls my age named Iris.
"Where are your parents, Iris?"
"Dead," I say. I'm the only one in my family left, unless you count my sister-in-law. But she was never part of the family.
"Same," Khione says. "Got any friends?"
"No," I say. But I like the look of Khione. She's tall and lean. She looks dangerous. Maybe she'll help me survive. "Can we be friends?"
Khione turns to me and smiles. Her eyes are bright and catlike. They're a lovely shade of hazel-gold.
"I need a friend like you, Iris," she says. "I was wondering if you could help me get a job as a servant at President Lobos' mansion."
"How could I help you do that?" I ask, feeling a chill run down my spine.
"You're Iris Snow, aren't you? You know the mansion's doors are always open for you. All I need you to do is appeal to President Lobos for help and then put in a good word for me."
I scowl at the thought of Manel Lobos, so called President of the Capitol. That evil usurper from District 10 offered to give me a home and three meals a day until I was ready to get a job and support myself. But I didn't want his pity. He didn't stop me from leaving.
So I left. So I started living on the streets.
"I'm not going to do that," I say. "I don't need help, especially not from Lobos."
Khione sighs. "I'm not asking because I think you need help. It's just… someone I care about is being held prisoner by Lobos. I'm trying to break them out but I need your help. I'm not as powerful as you, Iris. I don't have the influence you have."
Part of me really wants to help. Khione seems nice and I really hate Lobos. It would be nice to get some revenge, even if it's just breaking a prisoner out.
But I can't. I'm Iris Snow, granddaughter of Coriolanus Snow. I will never beg.
"I'm sorry," I stand up and walk away. "I can't help."
I reach the end of the alleyway and turn the corner. Suddenly, someone grabs me by the shoulder and forces me back against a wall. I try to scream for help but a hand is pressed over my mouth. I find myself staring into the wild eyes of a stranger.
"President Snow's granddaughter," he snarls. "I bet I could make a lot of money from you."
His reeking breath wafts into my face. I think I'm going to be sick. He draws a knife and moves it towards my throat…
Then something slams into him and knocks him to the side. He cries out in pain. The knife clatters to the pavement.
I blink, shocked to see Khione pinning the man to the ground. She's battering his face with her fists. There's something familiar about the poise of her body as she throws punch after punch at the man but I can't quite place it.
"Want to mess with my friend?" Khione hisses. "Well, you'll have to go through me first. Is that clear?"
The man whimpers in response.
"Okay," she reaches for the knife. "Want to see what I can do with this?"
"Khione! Stop!" I cry. She turns to look at me, a mad light in her hazel eyes. I've definitely seen those eyes before somewhere.
"Don't use the knife!" I say.
Khione looks down at the knife in her hand. For a second, horror fills her eyes. Then she regains composure.
"You may leave," she says to the man. "But, if you come anywhere near my friend again, I'm going to finish what I started. Consider yourself warned."
She backs away from the man, wiping her bloodied knuckles on her jeans.
"How did you do that?" I ask.
"I've been fighting a long time," Khione says. "You okay?"
I realise that I'm shaking. Am I okay? Am I okay? Am I okay?"
"No," I sob. Someone almost kidnapped me. Someone almost whisked me away to somewhere where nobody will ever find me.
"Do you need help?" Khione asks, gently.
I nod, tears spilling down my face. I hate myself for it. I remember my grandfather's words.
"A Snow never begs, Iris. A Snow never shows weakness. Snow lands on top."
But I'm begging for help. I'm weak. I'm homeless and scavenging for food in dustbins, which is about as far from the top as you can get.
"It's okay," Khione says. "I can protect you, help you survive on the streets. I just need you to help me save my friend first. Then, once I've broken them out, the three of us can all run away together. You won't need to stay with Lobos for long. We can beat him together. Does that sound good?"
"Yeah," I say.
Khione smiles. It's one of the most brilliant smiles I've ever seen.
Save one. I can't remember who was smiling but I remember seeing it when I was younger and it was like the sun rising over a world that had been in darkness for years. There's little room for warmth like that in my family.
"Have we met before?" I ask. I know it's a stupid thing to ask. I think I would've remembered Khione if I'd ever seen her before.
"No," Khione says. "I get that a lot, though. I guess I just have one of those faces."
I bet a lot of you were wondering what happened to Snow's granddaughter. This is what happened. Iris is going to be a fairly important character. A lot of stories interpret Snow's granddaughter as someone younger and more innocent but I decided to make Iris more like him. She was raised by Snow so it would make sense that he passed on a lot of his views to her.
