Thanks so much to Ro-Lee, breathing-sunflowers, iiMuffinsaur, and my lovely guest reviewer.
For the guest reviewer who asked for Mortal Instruments. I hope I do the series justice, because it's been a VERY long time since I last read Mortal Instruments.
Mortal Instruments
Ember's parents have tattoos, winding up and down their arms. Haymitch and Maysilee Abernathy usually keep them hidden beneath long sleeves, but they relax when they're at home, and it's just them and their children. Ember always thought it was because tattoos are usually seen as the marks of troublemakers, and Mom and Dad didn't want to get funny looks in public.
But when Ember turned twelve, her parents pulled her aside and told her the story behind them. "They're runes," Mom explained, holding out her bare arm. "See this one?"
"The mockingjay tattoo?"
"We all have them, where your mother and I came from," Dad said, showing his own. "We get them as a mark of our ancestry from the Mockingjay."
Ember made a face then. "We're descended from a bird?"
Mom and Dad muffled their laughs. "The Mockingjay was an anthropomorph," Mom assured her. "He took the bird as his symbol. Centuries ago, during the Dark Days, the Mockingjay emerged as a leader of the resistance against the Capitol. His origins are shrouded in myth and legend, so we'll probably never know where he really came from. But we do know that he possessed magic, which he accessed by drawing runes on his skin, and he shared his powers with the humans he chose to become his 'children.' It's these children of the Mockingjay from whom we're really descended."
"Why have I never heard of them before?"
"The Capitol and the Mockingjays have been at war for several lifetimes," Dad answered. "The Mockingjays are few in number, so they fight mostly underground. Your mother and I left them years ago because of some differences, but we still support the rebel cause. But if the Capitol gets the slightest hint that we might be affiliated with the Mockingjays, they will come for us. So, like with your older siblings, we only told you about this now, when you're old enough to understand its gravity."
"And to give you a choice," Mom added. "When we told Ashton and Rain, we offered to teach them how we fight and use magic. They agreed. And we told you that they left last year to go study in District 2, but the truth is they went to Thirteen to join the other Mockingjays and advance their training."
"So I can learn to use magic?" Ember asked eagerly.
"If you want to."
She did, desperately.
That was four years ago. Now Ember is sixteen, and her little brother, Cedric, is turning twelve today. Soon, he too will know of their family's heritage. But first, Mom and Dad are planning a small birthday celebration—just their family—and Ember is responsible for keeping her younger siblings out of the way while their parents prepare everything.
It's the time that Ember and her parents agreed upon, so she starts herding her brother and sister back. She hold Summer's little hand while Cedric wanders ahead of them, nose in his book. They've almost reached their house when one of the runes—for awareness—that Ember drew onto her arm begins to burn.
Danger.
"Cedric, stop."
Her brother halts and looks back at her curiously.
Ember passes Summer to him. "Stay out here with Summer. I'm going to check inside first."
"What's wrong?"
"Don't worry about it. Just...be ready." Her hand drifts to the hilt of her dagger as she slowly eases open the front door.
The house is deathly still. Ember can smell something burning in the kitchen. Her eyes dart around the foyer—nothing looks out of place. Silently, she inches toward the kitchen and tries to peer inside from a protected angle. Nothing and no one moves inside, that she can see. Her grip tightens around her brandished knife as she steps out so she can see clearly into the kitchen.
Her heart stutters as she sees a pool of crimson liquid on the floor. A smeared, bloody trail leads out the open back door, as do several scarlet footprints. The rest of the kitchen is a disaster—broken glass, smashed china, fallen pots—but all Ember can see is what surely must be the blood of at least one of her parents.
In a daze, she blindly takes a step forward, and shards of glass crunch beneath her shoe. All hell breaks loose.
The first mutt misses her, by some miracle. Her reflexes kick in, and Ember doesn't give it a chance to try again. Her dagger plunges straight into the mutt's heart. A second beast soon follows, and she barely dodges in time, slashing its belly as it hurtles past her. The mutt howls in pain, but the wound isn't fatal. It whirls back around, snarling, as Ember lunges for the kitchen cleaver.
A large mass of human barrels through the open back door. A sword glints, and within seconds, the mutt is in pieces on the floor.
Ember quickly looks away from its spilled guts, choosing instead to glare at the new intruder. "Who are you?" she asks the tall blond boy, who looks as if he's barely broken a sweat.
"The guy who just saved your life."
"Saved my life? I had it under control!"
"Did you?" He looks skeptical.
"Okay, maybe not under control, but I would've killed that mutt if you hadn't barged in." Then Ember brandishes her knife and the cleaver in each hand. "Speaking of, what the hell are you doing in my house?"
He turns to look at the puddle of blood on the floor. "I was hoping to save your parents, but it looks like I was too late."
Her heart hiccups. "They're not—?"
"No, they're alive. I think. But now we need to get you and your siblings out of here, before the people who took your parents come back for you guys."
Before Ember can interrogate him any further, Summer screams shrilly from the front porch. She takes off, with the boy on her heels.
If I wrote a full-length fic about Hunger Games/Mortal Instruments (which I wouldn't, sadly, since it's been far too long since I picked up the latter series), I would feel compelled to name the fic along the Mortal Instruments' title theme. City of Mockingjays? City of Hunger? Or would something like District of Bones be better? Ehehe. It's a pointless exercise, I suppose, but a fun one anyway.
Reviews are much appreciated, and please send more meeting scene ideas my way!
Coming up: X-Men, Hollywood, and Percy Jackson.