To anyone that has been waiting for me to post this chapter, I could give a thousand excuses for why I haven't posted a chapter in two weeks but I won't deflect the blame when it was me being lazy. Sorry.
Chapter 3
Four years later…
Many things had changed in the Everdeen household. Katniss now had a frightening temper. You would always have to make sure that you were never on the receiving end of her anger. She was like fragile glass that broke when touched in the wrong place. If you did, you had to make sure that there were no loose objects around that she could use to terrorise you with (not physically, of course). Prim had changed too. Every day that passed she became more like her mother in appearance as well as mannerisms. She hadn't completely out grown her distaste for killing animals but she now sometimes accompanied Katniss and Gale hunting although she refused to skin the animals.
Gale had also changed dramatically. Due to the many hours that they spent in the woods, Gale had become well built. You could tell by walking through the school that he was desired by many of the girls in the school. You could hear the gossip trailing the pair of them wherever they went. Many of the older folk at the hob had often said that if anyone deserved to have Gale as a husband – it was Katniss Everdeen, who was by far the most worthy girl in the district. She wasn't the most attractive girl in the school but she had this aura around her that seemed to inspire hope in even the most empty-hearted people.
Thump… Another knife hit the board. If anyone was standing behind the target board they would been skewered by the throwing knife. There were two more thumps as Gale and Prim's knives hit their target. Neither of the latter throws were as accurate as the former. Haymitch clapped mockingly.
"Looks like spitfire has finally learnt to aim" He immediately regretted his words as Katniss spun around and threw the knife in her hand at him. It flew millimetres away from his face.
"Care to repeat that again?" asked Katniss menacingly, holding a very deadly looking knife in her hand.
"Your knife throwing skills are superb, sweetheart." He said. He only calls her sweetheart when she is angry.
"Come on Catnip, don't kill Haymitch. He is our trainer" said Gale. Katniss and Gale figured out that they were being trained a few years ago. Haymitch had mentioned that Timothy had requested that they have some training on how to get water. After Haymitch spilled the beans, all three kids demanded to be told what was going on. They were angry but quickly forgave them both when Haymitch told them that he got them some hot chocolate – a delicacy that can only be found in the Capitol.
"Fine, I'll let you live today, but next time…" she let her threat hang. All of them know that she is perfectly capable of killing Haymitch, but she wouldn't because it would be almost like killing her father… unthinkable. Katniss limped over to the bench where her bow and arrow was kept. She had accidentally dropped her knife on her foot the day before. She was putting her rabbit on her belt when she cut her arm in the rabbit's sharp claws. She was so surprised that she dropped the knife and didn't have enough time to move away before it landed on her foot. She had cursed herself several times at her amateur mistake. It was Prim's first real test of her healing abilities.
"Come Catnip, it's reaping day" said Gale. It was her first reaping day today. "Don't worry; it's your first year so they won't pick you." Time seemed to go in fast forwards. The next thing that she knew she and Gale were being pulled apart and put in their separate age groups. She was thinking about Gale with his 15 slips. It was unlikely that he would get drawn but not entirely impossible. But she was also thinking of herself. She had 2 slips. Her father had insisted that she didn't take tesserae for him, just one for her and one for Prim.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome. How lovely it is to be here on this beautiful day" Katniss was reminded strongly of a squealing piglet. Effie began to blabber on endlessly about the treaty of treason and many other Hunger Games things that had been brainwashed into her.
"Now the time has come to select one courageous young man and woman for the honour of representing district 12 in the 70th annual Hunger Games. Ladies first" chirped Effie. All Katniss could think was 'that's not me. It's not going to be me. It's not me. Not me. It's not going to be me.'
"Katniss Everdeen"
'It is me.'
Shock was written all over everybody's faces – not just Katniss'. Everyone in the District 12 knows Katniss Everdeen; the hunter with a fiery temper. A scream echoed in the background. Prim had begun screaming for her older sister and running towards her.
"No Prim! Go find Dad! No Prim. Let go" said Katniss desperately. Everyone could only watch in sadness as both sisters were being pulled apart by the Hunger Games. Gale walked over to the pair of them and pulled Prim over his shoulder. Prim began to scream louder and whack her small fists against his head. Katniss put on her determined face and steeled herself as she walked up the stairs and onto the platform. It was then that she realised Effie Trinket had been 'commentating' the entire time.
"Come on up" she said "don't be shy." Katniss felt like punching her in the face but decided against it as showing her fighting skills would not be beneficial to her.
"Let's give a round of applause to Katniss Everdeen; the female tribute" said Effie. No one clapped. Everyone just stared at the girl on the stage then at Gale – the two teenagers that had been forcefully ripped apart. No one felt like applauding the action that had done this. So instead, they gave them the three fingered salute. It meant thanks, it meant admiration. It meant goodbye to someone you love. Katniss was close to crying and everyone knew it. Haymitch also noticed her discomfort and so he took the liberty of distracting everybody. He stumbled forward in a faux drunken fashion. He slung an arm over Katniss' shoulder.
"Look at this one! I like her. She has lots of…" He trailed off, thinking for a word that would be perfect to describe her "Spunk!" He yells triumphantly. Haymitch could see Timothy grinning in the crowd and he knew he had done his job. "More than you!" he added for extra effect while directing it at one of the cameras perched on the roof of the peacekeepers headquarters over to the left. "More than…" Haymitch tumbled off the stage and on to the concrete below. Katniss barely supressed a wince as she heard him crash onto the ground. It was a 2 metre drop.
"Well, this has been an exciting day!" said Effie who was desperately trying to get the attention back to the reaping. She knew that right now district 12 was the laughing stock of Panem and she didn't want to be associated with that. The population of district 12 also seemed to realise this but they had the opposite attitude to Effie; they didn't seem to care. In fact, they seemed to like it.
"Now for the boys!" said Effie. There was a noticeable change in her attitude. She briskly walked over to the bowl filled with names of the male potential participants of the Hunger Games. Katniss didn't have any time to wish Gale good luck before Effie was calling out the name.
"Leef Mowet" A lanky dark-skinned boy 16 year old boy hopped out of the crowd. He gave off a strong aura of arrogance. He was obviously trying to intimidate Katniss by flexing his almost non-existent muscles. He was either an idiot or just forgot that Katniss was a hunter.
Effie then led them to the justice building where they were separated by the peacekeepers and put into different rooms. They got 10 minutes for friends and family to say their goodbyes.
Almost as soon as the door closed Prim and Timothy walked into Katniss' room.
"Katniss" said Prim as she raced into Katniss' embrace. She started sobbing into her older sister shirt.
"Katniss listen to me" said her dad sternly. "You need to get a bow. I don't care how you get it. If you can't find one then you need to make one. You know how to make a bow and you know how to win this thing. Show them all up but be mysterious. Don't tell anyone what you are made of. Don't ally yourself with someone that you don't think you can trust."
"You mean Leef?" smirked Katniss. Timothy allowed himself a grin.
"Stay alive" he whispered and joined the hug.
"Stay safe" said Prim tearfully.
"I will" she said strongly.
"You have 1 minute left" said a masked peacekeeper.
"No, Katniss. You can't leave me!" said Prim. The three of them just sat in silence, savouring what could be the last minute they ever spend together. The only noise that broke through the silence was Prim's sobbing. The door opened again and a different peacekeeper walked in.
"Time's up" he said almost regretfully. For the second time that day, Prim was torn from her embrace and taken away from her.
"Good luck, Katniss" her father. He seemed confident in Katniss' abilities but he didn't want to be wrong in his judgement and never be able to give his oldest daughter a proper goodbye. He kissed her forehead and carried Prim out of the room who was curled in a ball, not willing to believe that Katniss was being taken away. The door closed again and everything went silent. Katniss considered trying to escape but she didn't think that anything good would come from that.
Then Gale walked in. There had never been anything between them despite the fact that she had a huge crush on him for a year. He had never seen her staring at him in the woods, but Katniss was painfully aware of it. She was more than happy to sink into his embrace.
"Catnip" he seemed to be about to say something more but the words seemed to catch in his throat. "You can win. You have to win. I don't think I would be able to you know, stay here and keep hunting by myself. I don't think I would be able to do it all by myself. I never told you before… I wish I had, Catnip but I love you" he looked down suddenly interested in his shoes. Katniss could see red pooling around his cheeks. She couldn't reply though, the words were stuck in her throat. She never expected that Gale liked her back. Gale looked up to see why she hadn't said anything.
"Look, I…" he didn't get to say anything else as Katniss kissed him. He was surprised and took a second to react before he kissed her back fiercely. When they pulled back they were both smiling.
"I won't forget you" Gale whispered.
"I won't die" said Katniss defiantly. The door opened at they both looked at the doorway expectantly.
"1 minute left" said the peacekeeper.
"Catnip, you should try to get some knives. You can't make them as well as you can make a bow or spears. You've had more practice at making them" he said hurriedly.
"What if there aren't any knives?" Katniss asked.
"There are always knives, they are the easiest weapon to use" he said. "But try and avoid the bloodbath we have practiced running and climbing use that to you advantage. Don't be intimidated by anyone, especially the careers. There will be people that are 18 years old, you are more talented than them – don't forget that."
"I won't, Gale."
"You can do this Catnip. I'm expecting to see you home in a month" said Gale. The door swung open again. It was the peacekeeper telling them that their time was up. Gale lent in and kissed her again one last time before he has jerked out of her arms.
"Don't let them starve!" yelled Katniss, panicking.
"You know I won't. You can do this. Don't forget I love you." The door slammed shut. 'He loves me' thought Katniss happily 'I won't let them down. They have worked so hard for me to have the best chance at coming back out. I can't let their efforts go to waste.' Since Haymitch wasn't allowed in, Katniss thought that there would be no one else that would come in but she was proven wrong as the door opened and Madge walked in. Madge was the Major's daughter and though they weren't what Katniss would call friends, they did sit together all the time though, as neither of them had any friend groups that they were part of. Madge walked with a sort of urgency.
"Katniss, I need to give this to you" she said quickly. She fumbled with the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a pin. Katniss didn't need to look closely at the pin in her hand to recognise it as a mockingjay. Her father had taught her all about mockingjays. They are able to repeat singing made by humans as they are descended from the genetically engineered Jabberjays and the local mocking birds.
"It was my aunts" said Madge sadly. "She wore it when she was in the Hunger Games." Katniss didn't need to be told that Madge's aunt was killed in the games. Only 2 people from district 12 have survived the Hunger Games and both were male.
"I want you to wear it Katniss. Be proud, you can win this."
"Thank you" whispered Katniss. As she watched Madge's retreating back she realised that perhaps they were friends all along. Katniss was once again proved wrong about her guess that there would be no one else visiting her as once again the wooden doors were opened to reveal very unexpected guests. Mr Mellark and Peeta Mellark walked. Katniss wondered why Mr Mellark came as he never spoke much. As she guessed, Peeta was the one that spoke first.
"You're probably wondering why we are here" he said. At Katniss' nod he continued. "We wanted to say that we will help your family and the little girl…"
"Prim" cut in Katniss.
"Prim" he corrected. "We will make sure she eats. Don't panic or lose you head. Everyone in the district thinks you can win this thing, even my mother." He grins slightly when he sees Katniss' eyebrows shoot up. Katniss' surprise increases when Mr Mellark speaks.
"We also brought you this." He hands her a bag of cookies. She takes them and thanks them profusely.
"You don't realise how much this means to me" she said gratefully as they walk out the door. The door closes and once again the room is bathed in silence. She never realised that this many people cared about her. She was given two gifts: cookies and a handcrafted gold pin. 'Perhaps I should get reaped more often' she thought with a grin.
A/N I have started writing two more fics. What do you think I should post next… Harry Potter or Divergent or do you think I should keep writing this story? See ya later!
SarahMellark15
