Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or Divergent.
I'm not sure how Tobias managed it, but one way or another, he eventually bribed one of the factionless guards into handing over a truck. Once the property of Amity, it's now considered "communally owned", or however the factionless want to phrase it. But, I figure, that's not important. All that matters is, we're outside the fence for the very first time.
Still, a part of me longs for the safety and familiarity of Chicago, the only place I've ever called home. Two threads are tugging at me - one pointing to Chicago, the other leading into the unknown. As of now, we've yet to discover what that unknown is called.
"Right now, there are two possibilities," Caleb says in a quiet voice. "We're either completely alone in the world, or we're not. And the way I see it, both possibilities are equally terrifying."
I want to tell him to shut up, that none of that matters when he betrayed me, delivered me to what I thought would be my execution. But I'm too tired to respond. So I let the movement of the truck rock me into a restless slumber.
All I'm aware of for the next fifteen minutes is the feel of Tobias' hand in mine. Then, without warning, the truck screeches to a stop.
"What the -" Next to me, Uriah jerks awake. He glances at Zeke, who's behind the wheel. "What just happened? Why'd we stop?"
"Look. You see that?" I can't tell what Zeke's pointing to, but whatever it is, it must be some sign of civilization. I crane my neck so I can see out the window. Then I spot it.
A shack. A dilapidated structure made almost entirely out of wood, camouflaged by the surrounding trees and bushes. I look around, hoping to see other buildings nearby. But there's nothing. This must be the property of some hermit. Someone dangerous? My hand immediately goes to the knife in my pocket. I take the weapon out, my fingers shaking.
I've never even laid eyes on a person who isn't from Chicago. Or is there no one left outside? I wonder, stepping out of the truck. Is Caleb right? Could we be the only ones left?
I don't want to admit it, but the thought terrifies me. Be brave, I tell myself. "Come on," I say to Tobias. "We should go look at that place."
"Good idea," he replies. He shoots Caleb a look. "You stay here. Uriah, keep him company."
Uriah nods. Is it my imagination, or does he look as petrified as I feel? I shake my head. Get over it. It's not important.
I approach the abandoned structure, knife in hand. Behind me, I hear Tobias draw his gun. He inserts a single round and clicks it into place.
"Hey, tell me if there's food in there," Zeke calls out, probably in an attempt to break the tension. I don't look back. I'm too nervous to say anything. Then, preparing for a fight, I enter the shack. Tobias is right on my tail. We see no one.
"Um, Zeke? It's empty," Tobias shouts. I'm about to say something else, then I hear it.
Footsteps. Right behind me. I know they're not Caleb's, yet they don't sound like Uriah's. And I know Zeke's still in the truck.
I whirl around, and see her.
A woman. She looks to be around Tobias' age, maybe a few years older. Still, she's only a couple inches taller than me. Her hair is long, black, and straight, and her skin is olive-toned. Her gray eyes widen as she takes us in. Then she lifts the bow in her hands, her other arm reaching for an arrow.
I'm closer to her, so I do the first thing I can think of. I kick her hard in the shin, and she gasps, stumbling forward. She falls to her knees, and in a second, Tobias has his gun aimed at her head. I point the knife in my hand at her throat.
"Drop your weapon," Tobias orders. She obeys, yet for some reason, I see no fear in her eyes. She stares at us with a blank expression on her face, as if waiting for us to kill her.
Finally, I break the silence. "Your name. What is it?"
She says, in a monotone voice, as if reciting the manifesto of her home faction, "My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am eighteen years old. My home is District Twelve. I was the Mockingjay. They tried to use me. First the Capitol, then President Snow, then the rebels, then President Coin. The Capitol has fallen. President Snow is dead. And I killed President Coin. No one will ever use me again." The last part, she spits out like venom. Like at Al's funeral, when I asked Tobias if he should be paying his respects.
I know how she feels. I am Divergent. And I can't be controlled.
However, I don't know what the words "District Twelve" or "Mockingjay" or "Capitol" mean, so I just stare at her in stunned silence. Finally, I lower the knife.
"Calm down," I say, trying my best to sound reassuring. "We're not going to hurt you. It's just that, well, we've never been outside of Chicago before. And we're Dauntless, you see, which means we've been trained to respond like this to threats -"
I'm interrupted by footsteps. This time, they sound familiar. Zeke. He looks as confused as we are. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on? Who is this?"
The woman - Katniss Everdeen - releases a sigh. "Do I have to repeat what I just said?"
"All right, everyone just relax," Tobias says. He shifts the barrel of the gun away from Katniss' head, and directly addresses her. "I think we've already established that you're not a threat. So, why don't you just tell us who you are, and what you're doing out here."
"You tell me," she says, her eyes flitting back and forth, between Tobias and me. "Who're you? What's Chicago? And what do you mean by Dauntless? Were you two Peacekeepers?"
I don't know what the word "Peacekeeper" means, either.
"Whatever a Peacekeeper is, we aren't that," Tobias tells her. "We worked for the security of our city, Chicago. And up until now, we didn't even know a world outside of that existed."
Katniss nods, slowly. "And what are your names?"
"My name is Tobias." He points at me. "This is Tris, my girlfriend." Then at Zeke. "My friend, Zeke. And there are others outside. Tris' brother, Caleb, and Zeke's brother, Uriah."
"I'll go get them." Zeke gestures in the direction of the truck. Then he's gone.
Katniss pushes herself up to a standing position. She eyes us distrustfully. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Listen, I know you must be afraid right now, but we need answers. And just think, if we wanted to hurt you, we would've done so already." I think of the moment Tobias said that to me. If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think I would have already?
Katniss seems to relax. Her hand moves away from the sheath of arrows at her side. "Go ahead. Ask me anything. Just remember, I could kill you. Now that I'm prepared."
Zeke comes back, with Uriah and Caleb in tow. I almost feel sorry for my brother. He looks terrified, as if expecting Katniss to kill him with that bow in her hands. But she doesn't. Instead she sits down on the floor and releases her grip on the bow. "My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am eighteen years old. My home is District Twelve. I was the Mockingjay. I'm not anymore. No one will ever control me again."
"That makes two of us," I say. I smile at her, and it's genuine. "They tried to control me, too. The people in our city, I mean. The leader of Erudite - Jeanine Matthews - wanted to put me under mind control. She didn't know I was immune to it. Thankfully, she's gone now."
A wry smile appears on Katniss' face. "I take it this means you weren't a Peacekeeper."
"We weren't Amity, that's for sure." Zeke chuckles. "Now can you tell us what a Peacekeeper is? Or a… District Twelve? A Mockingjay?"
With some reluctance, she starts to tell us. All about her home country, an enormous stretch of land known as "Panem". Apparently, it meant "bread" in an ancient language. The country consisted of a dominant Capitol and twelve outlying districts. Every year, as punishment for a failed rebellion, the Capitol would force each of the districts to send one boy and one girl to compete in the Hunger Games. This was a televised competition in which the youth - called tributes - were forced to fight to the death, until only one remained.
"Man," Zeke mutters, when Katniss finishes describing it. "And we thought Dauntless training was hardcore."
"Dauntless?" Katniss looks perplexed. Then it's our turn to tell her. About the faction system, and Dauntless initiation, and the conflict between Erudite and Abnegation. And the Divergent. Zeke makes sure to mention that I'm Divergent, and that Katniss "better watch out, 'cause she's got special brain powers."
"Special powers, huh? Then you are special." Katniss grins. "Unlike me."
"What do you mean?"
Katniss looks me square in the eye. "I was the Mockingjay. That meant I led the rebellion that took down the Capitol, and ended the Hunger Games. Well, sort of. More like, the rebels thought I was inspirational, so they plucked me from the masses and made me the face of the movement." She laughs. It's a pained, bitter laugh. "Not that I wanted them to. In fact, before the rebellion started, I actually thought about running away. I thought, I'll just take my family with me and run, and never look back."
"So you didn't do anything? Just let the rebels lead the way?" Now I'm the one who's confused.
"Well, I did lead a false mission to assassinate the president. But that was just to get revenge for destroying my home." She looks down. "My district was firebombed. It's being rebuilt now."
"Kind of like how the Erudite destroyed Abnegation." Maybe we are more similar than I thought. Still, I have to suppress a laugh. The rebels picked her, an unwilling pawn, to lead their movement? They picked someone who didn't even care enough about the cause to fight for it? She said she wanted to run away, and leave her people behind to suffer. I'm tempted to call her selfish, but I have a feeling there's more to it than that.
"So what did you do? Did you lead a revolution in Chicago?" Katniss turns her gaze back to me.
"Oh, you should have seen it," Uriah chimes in, throwing an arm around me. "She's the bravest, most selfless person we know. We wouldn't have gotten out without her. She single-handedly stopped the simulation when Abnegation was attacked. She turned herself in to Erudite, when Jeanine threatened to kill more Dauntless for ransom. And it's 'cause of her that we managed to break into Jeanine's computer, and get the data about what's on the outside."
Katniss looks genuinely impressed. "Makes me look useless in comparison. All I did was look good on camera. While shouting angrily. And sometimes making a decent shot with an arrow." Again, she looks down. "I also killed an innocent woman. While I was in the Capitol."
"I make you look like a saint," I tell her. "I killed Will. One of my best friends. He was under the simulation. He ran at me, a gun in his hand, and I shot him. I was forgiven, but I still think about it a lot."
I'm not sure why I'm telling her this, but then again, she's told us a lot about her own life. Maybe a part of me wants to be friends with her. Perhaps it's just the Abnegation in me, but I can see that there's something she's trying to hide, a part of her that aches with loss and longing.
Her eyes go to the tattoo on my collarbone. "What's it stand for? The tattoo, I mean."
"My family," I tell her. "I knew I'd be leaving them behind when I switched to Dauntless, but I wanted something to remember them by." I point to the ravens on my skin. "Three of these, representing my mother, my father, and my brother." Caleb. The traitor. I want to glare at him, but I can't tear my gaze away from Katniss.
All of a sudden, she opens her jacket. Takes a small object out of one of the pockets. When I look closer, I see that it's a gold pin, carved into the shape of a bird. This must be the "mockingjay" she spoke of. "It's a mockingjay pin. My friend, Madge, gave it to me. Before I went into the arena. That was how I got my name."
"Cool," Uriah says. He inches closer.
"I was also called the 'girl on fire'. It's kind of a sick joke now." Katniss leans forward, and in the dim light, I can see the burn scars on her face. They've faded somewhat.
"Fire? Man, that's amazing! Just like the symbol of Dauntless." Zeke has a wide grin on his face. He playfully elbows Katniss. "Guess this means you're Dauntless."
"Doubt I'm brave enough, Zeke." Yet she laughs.
I see Tobias checking his watch. "I hate to interrupt this conversation, but we've been here long enough. We should get back, before night falls. And someone needs to tell Evelyn what's happening outside."
"Evelyn? You're sure you can talk to her?" I still don't trust Tobias' mother. The threat from the Erudite may be gone, but the threat of factionless dominance remains.
"Tris," Tobias says evenly, "I'm still her son. Maybe she'll see that when I meet with her. Besides, what else are we going to do? I don't feel like talking to one of those… Peacekeepers."
"You're right," I tell him. Tobias waves Uriah, Caleb, and Zeke out the door. Uriah and Zeke say their goodbyes, and promise to come back someday. Caleb just purses his lips and remains silent. Soon, all three of them have left. I tell Tobias to wait one minute.
"So, Katniss," I say, turning back to the woman. "Can I ask you something? About your role in the rebellion. And the Games."
"Ask away." Her gray eyes meet mine.
"So you volunteered for the Games, and won. Along with that boy, Peeta. And then… you chose to help the rebels, even though you didn't really want to? Why?"
"It's simple, really," she says, shrugging. "I volunteered to save my sister, Prim. They picked her instead of me. And I just couldn't let her do it. So I went, and I promised I'd do my best to come home. And I did. Then the rebellion happened. And Peeta was captured. The rebels thought he was a traitor. So I agreed to help them, on the condition that they'd spare his life."
"Wow," I tell her. "Zeke was right. You are brave." I smile. "And selfless. Divergent."
She shakes her head. "I didn't do much, really. I couldn't even save Prim. She's dead now. The rebels killed her, and blamed it on the Capitol. That's how they got the Capitol to surrender."
I kneel down, and take one of her hands in mine. Her skin is cold to the touch. "Listen, I…" I struggle to find the right words to say. "Here's what my mother would say. People are flawed, and we should be lenient with them. And my father…" I swallow hard. I can't think of my father's death. The blood on the floor. The pile of bodies. "He'd say to let the guilt teach you to do better next time."
Something in Katniss' face changes. "Your father. Is he still alive?"
I shake my head. "Neither is my mother. They died protecting me." I let out a small cough. "They saved me."
It takes a long time for Katniss to reply. When she does, her voice seems to have deepened. "My father died when I was eleven. I saw it with my own eyes. He was in a mining accident, and they brought him back to our house. I saw the wound on his leg, the charred flesh, burned all the way down to the bone, before I ran into the woods. By the time I came back, he was already gone." A tear glistens in her eye. "But I've never forgotten what he looked like. And I don't know if I want to."
She wipes her eyes with one hand. "I like to think, if not for that day, my life would've been different. My mother wouldn't have gotten depressed, and Prim wouldn't have gone hungry, and I wouldn't have had to do all that I did, in order to help us survive." She sniffles. "And I miss him."
I think of my mother's death, the way she sacrificed herself for me. Without the slightest hesitation, she threw herself into a hail of bullets. For me. I think of how I refused to let her sacrifice go to waste, even though I still miss her every day.
"Hey," I say to Katniss. "Look at me. I meant it when I called you selfless and brave. You are Dauntless, through and through. And Abnegation. You can be forgiven for all you've done to get here. I believe it."
Am I saying these words to her only, or am I also saying them to myself? Because I do believe it. I am not worthless, as I believed when I was constantly putting myself in danger. I am worth it. And I think this strange woman is, too.
Katniss manages a smile. "Thanks," is all she can get out.
"I'll be back soon. With the others," I tell her, as I start to leave. "Big things will be happening in the future. Our two societies will have to come together, one way or another. But I feel like it'll be easier if we work together." And with that, I'm out the door.
The ride back home is oddly quiet. Not even Zeke has much to say. I lean into Tobias, mostly staying silent, but my mind is buzzing with questions. What's it like in Panem now? Will they accept us? Did any of them even know we were here? What if another war starts?
My thoughts are interrupted when Tobias speaks up. "So, Tris. That woman Katniss, she mentioned having a husband. Peeta. I thought I heard her say he owns a bakery." A sly grin makes its way onto his face. "You think he'll make us some Dauntless cake for free?"
And suddenly we're all laughing. Despite the daunting task that's ahead of us, I suddenly feel hopeful. Maybe we haven't yet found the solution to all of our problems, but whatever it is, it starts with getting to know the people outside. And as far as I can tell, we've already made one friend.
I smile to myself. Life may have a way of messing things up, and sometimes, people are broken almost beyond repair. But it's also true that we can be mended. We mend each other.
AN: Hope you guys liked it! I really did try to capture accurately the voices and personalities of Katniss and Tris. I always wanted to write something like this, mostly because I was never satisfied with how other crossovers handled the two characters. Yes, they are similar in many ways, but I also feel like they are complete polar opposites in others, and I think they would initially dislike each other, if they ever met. Certainly, Tris is braver - and more selfless - than Katniss, even though she seems to have more overall faith in the system than the latter. Then again, Tris wasn't the one forced to fight twenty-three other kids to the death. Who's Dauntless now? Lol. Next chapter will be from Katniss' perspective!
