Jace and I take the morning off, lying in the sun, saying nothing yet sharing everything. It's peaceful, warm, and beautiful. And I know it has to end.

After what has felt like minutes, but most likely has been hours, I sit up. "We should go back," I say, trying to hold back the misery in my voice as I suggest destroying this paradise we have created for ourselves. "There are evaluations this afternoon."

"Mmmmm," Jace yawns sleepily. A lazy smirk sidles onto her sun-kissed face.

I nudge her shoulder, laughing in spite of myself. "C'mon you. Go train up so you can get a good score and win lots of sponsors."

Her smirk falls into a frown. "Prim, I thought we were done with all that." Deep brown eyes meet mine. "I thought we were done trying."

Every fiber of my being screams to stay here with her. What's the point of returning to receive a low, meaningless number that will only hurt your chances later on? "They won't let us skip evaluations." I say; frustration and bitterness once again fueling my words. "They'll track us down and ruin this moment." My voice wavers slightly as I try to continue, "And I can't have them biased against me from the start of the Games."

"Tell me." Jace is no longer asking. This is a command coming from the person who has just saved me, and I can't stop the tears as I ruin her life.

"Our parents are going into the arena with us." There's a delay, and then the shock registers in her eyes. It swiftly melts into horrified panic as I deliver the coup de grâce: "There is still only one victor. We have to kill our own parents."

Denial quickly floods her face as she searches for a loophole. "No... But surely they would..." Denial dissolves down to defeat and Jace falls to her knees sobbing. I put my arms around her shaking shoulders and sit there holding her. There are no words I can say to comfort her, no way to make the pain stop. All I can do is hold her here and keep Jace from falling apart.

When her shoulders finally steady, she stands up. Her puffy eyes turn to me, and she opens her mouth like she's going to say something, but then hesitates. There are no words that can fill the heavy silence, so we walk back down to the training room in silence.

No one looks up when we enter the room, even though the door slams heavily behind us. I look around, and the training room is nearly empty. Only about half of the tributes are present, including the pair from 2, the girl from 4, and both tributes from 7 and 10. From the red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks that remain, I can guess what news has spread among the tributes in my absence. Good. I think. No one deserves to be surprised by something like that.

I guess everyone went to be with their parents... Briefly I consider fleeing to spend my remaining hours with my mother, but I don't know what to think about her anymore. If only my father were still here, I know we could keep each other alive in these cruel Games. Or Katniss, I think. Out of our entire family, those two would stand a chance in the Games. Now it's just the weak ones, the quiet, fragile healers.

I reach over and take Jace's hand. Squeezing it gently, I guide us to the archery range. Katniss would have been amazing at this, I think wistfully, remembering the fruits of her many hunting trips, always shot cleanly through the eye. As I pick up the strong silver bow, I am amazed by its weight. When my father and Katniss had tried to teach me to shoot before, I always staggered under the bow built for stronger hunters. They assured me I would soon bulk up, but they died before I could prove them wrong.

This bow gleams in my hands. Everything tunes out as I approach the range. I can't see Jace, I can't hear the trainer's advice. I don't even really see the targets. I just feel. I feel the sleek metal beneath my fingers as I guide the first arrow to rest against the string. I feel myself inhale with the bow as I pull back and exhale as the arrow flies.

Fwhip.

I am shocked out of my focus by a small squeak beside me. I turn, and Jace is staring at me with wide eyes. "Prim... You didn't tell me you could shoot."

"What?" I try to think of what she could be talking about. Could my arrow have found its mark? I am about to look and find where it landed when I hear a slow clapping approach me.

"Prim! Wherever did you learn to shoot like that? Surely they don't let you practice in the coal mines back home!" The boy from 7…Will's mocking voice carries an impressed undertone. I look over to the target and find that I have hit the cutout square in the chest.

"Beginner's luck," scoffs an irritable looking Quin. He approaches the range and grips a bow for himself. Lining up with a target, he lets an arrow fly. It pierces the head- a fatal shot.

Will whistles appreciatively. "Nice shot 11. But I wasn't done complementing the lovely Primrose yet." He winks at me, a cheeky smirk playing across his impish features. "I want to know what a business a beauty like you has knowing your way around a bow like that. I daresay this wasn't your first time firing an arrow."

"My sister taught me." Even though I couldn't hold up the bow, Katniss made me practice. She would hold the bow for me, wrapping me in her strong hunter's arms. She showed me how to aim the arrow and never miss. When I was in practice, I could match her for accuracy if I had help setting up my bow. Katniss made sure that I would be able to hunt for myself one day, "If anything goes wrong," she would say, "I need to know that you and mom won't starve. You need to be able to support her and yourself, do you understand?"

I think of Katniss as I raise the silver bow once more. I see myself at the burial for my father and Katniss. Wiping tears from my face and trying to come to terms with the fact that my mother had refused to get out of bed to attend the event. The day the Peacekeeper took me aside and warned me to stay out of the woods.

"What your father was doing was illegal." His gruff voice pounded against my tear-streaked heart. "I don't want to hear of you selling game in the Hub, or you might find the next mining accident will be your own." I hadn't responded to his words, I just stood dumbly before this man and tried to understand the warning I had received. All I could think was that I would never touch a bow again. Taking life after the death of half my family was unthinkable.

The next day, I had held another funeral, this time burying two ash bows in the forest. I knew that their souls didn't rest in the mining uniforms that cloaked their corpses, so the by putting the bows to rest I was truly setting them free. The relief I felt when I covered the bows was like tons of weight off my shoulders. I wouldn't have to hunt; I wouldn't have to take life.

As I return my focus to the humanoid target, I breathe deeply once again. Inhale… Exhale… Focus. Looking down the range, I release the arrow.

Laughter.

Will is unable to contain the grin that splits across his face. "Oh 12," he gasps between bursts of laughter. "Where do I sign up to ally myself with you?"

The corners of my mouth turn up in satisfaction as I ignore the boy. Beauty indeed. I walk to Jace, and take her hand. We leave the training room and I leave myself behind. I no longer have the luxury of burying my weapons.

And anyways, there is some news I need to give my mother.

It has been a few weeks! AP testing got the better of me for a bit there, and I can't make promises about regular updates with finals coming up. I will do my best to post slightly longer chapters when I do update though, and the Games will be starting up soon (*nervous laughter*).

I feel pretty good about this chapter, although I wasn't sure about Prim's archery ability at first. I think that it's a nice mark that Katniss left on her though, and I think we can agree that Katniss would never have left her sister unprepared. At the same time, I can see sweet, innocent little Prim hating the thought of taking life from anything, so burying the bows is her way of staying herself despite the situation.

Good news? We've got some fun* chapters coming up soon with the evaluations and interviews. And then it's Game time... I'm excited to see what you think about the Quell arena I decided on.

Lots of love, and I would adore anyone who wanted to share their opinion in a review! ~Fancyclopedia