Not long ago, the rebels had exploded the Nut - the mountain stronghold which belonged to District 2. The Nut held the majority of the military power that enabled the Capital to control the other Districts. That created an enormous avalanche that was slowly killing the inhabitants of the Nut who were trapped inside it, in a similar way that a mine explosion would.
Katniss had not agreed to that plan. Burying their enemies alive inside of that mountain reminded her way too much of the way her own father had died - in a mine accident around six years ago. But that was war, and Gale's plan had the approval from the majority of the rebels who had the power of voting and making such cold-hearted decisions.
At least, they had convinced President Coin to not obstruct the tunnels that connected the mountain with the rest of District 2. That way, some civilians would still be able to escape from that horrible fate. Katniss was holding onto that thought when her mentor Haymitch's voice came out her earpiece informing her that she was required to make a speech about the rebels' victory over the capital.
She didn't really want to do it. The Nut's fate brought back so many bad memories involving her eleven-year-old self. An innocent eleven-year-old girl who was staring helplessly as the elevators brought back up smoked miners to their families. Katniss could not help but think about that day, when she silently prayed that one of these nameless faces returning from underground would be her father. But he never came back up. He was dead. Buried underground with so many others.
But Haymitch reminded that her actions that night could end up saving lives. So she agreed, and once again, she was going to be playing the role of the Mockingjay. As soon as she started speaking to her camera crew, two trains came out the Nut, side by side, bringing a wave of smoke with them. The people inside had come armed but also wounded.
A single man burst out from the station. He was holding a gun with one hand and pressing a bloody cloth at his cheek with the other. As he tripped down, Katniss was able to see his wound, and suddenly she stopped seeing a man who was a mere puppet from the Capitol, one that she had to defeat; all she could see was just another victim from a mine accident. Before she realised what she was even doing, Katniss was walking straight to the spot where the man had fallen and was asking for her fellow rebels to hold their fire.
"Stop!" her words were amplified and broadcasted to the entire station - perhaps even to the entire Panen. She tried to ignore it as she approached the fallen man, who instinctively stood up on his knees and aimed the gun straight to her head.
"Freeze!" she heard Haymitch's voice coming from her earpiece, and for once, she had no intention of disobeying him.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't shoot you," the man's eyes were covered by a pained madness that only someone who had nothing else to lose could have.
"I can't."
The man seemed so disconcerted by her words that he almost dropped his gun. But so was Katniss. Surely she should be able to give him at least half a million reasons by now, right? Only that she could not. Not really.
"I can't. That's the problem, isn't it? We blew up your mine. You burned my district to the ground. We've got every reason to kill each other. So do it. Make the Capitol happy. I'm done killing their slaves for them."
"I'm not their slave."
"I am. That's why I killed Cato... and he killed Thresh... and he killed Clove... and she tried to kill me. It just goes around and around, and who wins? Not us. Not the districts. Always the Capitol. But I'm tired of being a piece in their Games."
"Keep talking," she heard Haymitch's voice coming from her earpiece again.
"When I saw that mountain fall tonight, I thought… they've done it again. Got me to kill you - the people in the Districts. But why did I do it? District Twelve and District Two have no fight except the one the Capitol gave us. And you up there? I come from a mining town. Since when do miners condemn other miners to that kind of death, and then stand by to kill whoever manages to crawl from the rubble?"
"Who is the enemy?" Haymitch whispered through her earpiece.
"These people are not your enemy! We all have one enemy, and it's the Capitol! Please, join us!"
Katniss looked at the TV screen, hoping to see some sort of reconciliation between the rebels and the remaining of District 2, but everything she saw was the moment when she had been shot.
Bilbo Baggins was certainly having the most eventful week of his life.
Everything started when he opened his door to collect the milk, as he did every single morning. However, that day there was an unconscious woman laying down on top of his daffodils and orchids alongside his milk bottle.
The small man-folk woman had olive skin and black long hair that was wrapped into one single neat braid which was resting on the side of her shoulders. She wore armour and clothing of a very fine making. Her clothes made her somehow look like a lethal black bird. By her side, there was an impressive-looking black bow and a quiver full of arrows made from materials that Bilbo had never seen before. There was a simple leather shoulder bag by her feet, and he assumed that had to belong to her as well.
The hobbit wasted no time asking for help from his neighbours, friends and family. And in a question of minutes, they all had the girl comfortably placed in his best guest room. The old Chica Chubb promptly came along with his cousin Dora, and both hobbit ladies quickly sent Bilbo out of the room so they could change the clothes of the poor girl to something more comfortable and proper.
Soon enough, Katniss was wearing a white nightgown that would drag around the floor for a hobbit, but for Katniss it was ending one palm above her knees and just a few centimetres from her elbows, exposing a nasty scar that she had on the inner part of her left arm. Despite her armour and clothes being completely intact, both female hobbits noticed that the unconscious Lady also had a very nasty bruise on the left side of her chest.
Unfortunately, when Dr Proudfoot finally arrived, he was unable to wake the woman. But he applied a balm on her bruises, placed a catheter on her and asked Bilbo to keep the woman on a constant diet of stocks and other clear fluids.
The commotion at the Shire had been enormous, as everybody wanted to be able to help somehow. Some of the female hobbits brought her some better-fitted clothes for her size. Others, brought her more clear fluids than she could possibly take. They also brushed her hair, cleaned her body and changed her bedsheets. Most bound by curiosity and the desire to catch a glimpse of the 'Lady Bird' - a nickname she earned due to the strange appearance of her armour, as well to the golden pin she had placed on it.
Bilbo, however, seemed to be genuinely concerned about her well-being. It took him five full days until he decided that it was okay to invade the privacy of the mysterious lady and search inside her leather bag for clues of whom she might actually be.
Yet, her belongings brought him more questions than answers. There were two books, the largest of the two seemed to be a herbal and botanic guide - having a series of drawings followed by explanations about each plant property.
The second one was more like a collection of clothing sketches that seemed to have been made especially for the girl who laid unconscious in his guest room. The fashion portraits in these sketches were like nothing else that Bilbo had ever seen - a good part of them looked devilishly scandalous, showing off more skin that was deemed proper. Despite that, he knew that these drawings were unlikely to have been made for a mere commoner, reinforcing the assumptions drawn by the clear fine making of her armour, weapons and the golden locket around her neck that she was indeed a Lady of high standing.
Inside her shoulder bag there was also one change of clothing, including socks, underwear, a very plain dark trousers, a shirt, a belt and a brown leather jacket. There were also a couple of gadgets that he could not quite guess what they were for - a pair of the darkest glasses he had ever seen, something that looked like a mask, a piece of strong white rope, a metal water bottle and many other objects that made little sense for him, which did not surprise Bilbo, as he had found the weirdest piece of jewellery in one of her ears, the gold locket around her neck and another one made from that same weird material around her wrist that had glowing symbols that shone on the dark. He had no idea where in Arda she had gotten her things from.
Next morning when his cousin Dora sent him out so she could look after the 'Lady Bird' girl, Bilbo went to the front of his house to smoke from his pipe, which he hoped would help to clear his mind. Just after he lit his pipe, the tall wizard appeared and gave him an inquisitive look. Bilbo looked back to the tall old man who, like the woman lying unconscious inside his house, also wore an unusual set of clothing. The hobbit could not help but wonder if, somehow, this man could possibly be related to the mysterious Lady who he was lodging.
They both carried on studying and analysing each other until Bilbo decided to break that uncomfortable silence.
"Can I help you?" Bilbo's eyebrows slightly frowned.
"That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."
"And adventure? Well, I've been having more than my share of these since last week. All the commotion caused by the Lady Bird arrival has put me in quite a spot, I must say..."
"Ladybird?" It was the wizard's turn to give Bilbo a frown.
"The mysterious Lady warrior that appeared right here on my doorstep almost a week ago. I am surprised you haven't heard of it. Nobody else in the Shire seems to talk about anything else at the moment..."
"And where is this Lady now, if I may ask?"
"Ah, she is right here, in one of my guest rooms, being well-looked after. She has been unconscious since I found her, just here, by my doorstep. You wouldn't happen to know who she might be, would you?"
"Maybe. I do know quite a lot of people after all. May I have a look at her?" the Maia requested, making a mental note of all the female warriors that he had previously met.
"Of course!" Bilbo said, sounding much more cheerful than he had felt in a while. He opened the door of his house gesturing for the man to come inside. "Just follow me, Mr…?"
"Gandalf."
"Gandalf… not Gandalf, the wandering Wizard, who made such excellent fireworks! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. I had no idea you were still in business."
"And where else should I be?"
Bilbo shrugged as he led the way to his guest quarters.
"Bilbo! You have a guest!" his cousin Dora said excitedly as she opened Katniss' bedroom's door.
"Yes, yes. Cousin Dora, this is Gandalf, the wandering Wizard. He wants to have a look at her ..."
"Not the wizard who was behind old Took magnificent fireworks?" her eyes glowed in excitement as Gandalf politely nodded. "Let me get you something to drink, Mr Gandalf! Maybe some tea?"
"Wine would be very welcomed, Miss Dora. Now, where is this Lady you mentioned, Mr Baggins?"
Bilbo just pointed to the door which his cousin had left, and the wizard immediately invited himself in. Bilbo followed closely behind.
Gandalf looked at the powerless girl who was lying down unconscious in Bilbo's guest bedroom, and he sensed some sort of ancient magic inside the room.
He noticed that an almost imperceptible humming was coming from her bow, drawing his attention to her strange belongings. He went over to examine her alien weaponry, but it gave him a small electroshock when he tried to touch it. Gandalf frowned at the bow and decided to examine her armour instead. He was surprised when he saw such fine craftsmanship - one that clearly rivalled the work of the mightest of the elves.
Though it was when his hands touched her Mockingjay pin that was attached to her armour that the Wizard started having a collection of visions about the young woman's past.
He saw a young girl learning how to hunt with her father; he saw she mourning the loss of that very same father while she looked after her younger sister; he saw when she almost died of hunger and a boy tossing her a piece of bread; he saw when she decided to hunt and gather food in the wilderness for her family's survival. Gandalf also saw when the name of her sister came out of the ripening bowl and then he saw the girl volunteering to take her place; he saw glimpses of the Capitol's parades. The contrast between its luxury and the poverty of District 12. The Wizard saw Katniss' training, being interviewed and shooting an arrow just next to the Gamemakers's head.
Gandalf then saw glimpses of Katniss' fights inside the Hunger Games arena - he saw a young girl dodging fireballs, climbing trees, and then sending deadly wasps to the other tributes. He saw Katniss teaming up with the innocent young Rue, blowing up supplies and then avenging the death of her ally. He saw when she decided to go after the boy Peeta to save his life. The Wizard saw Katniss deciding to defy the Capital with the nightlock berries, and then saw glimpses of all the trouble she had got herself into as a result. He saw her going on tour, watching people getting shot. He saw Katniss being forced inside the arena yet again, then being rescued, watching her home district being destroyed, only to become the face of the rebels' revolution, until she was finally shot down by someone she was trying to save.
The old Maia's eyes were opened wide with all that new information, and his attention returned to the unconscious Katniss Everdeen, with complete newfound respect. He walked back to where Katniss laid and placed his staff on her chest and a hand on her forehead before he started whispering old incantations in an ancient language, making some light come out his staff and go into the girl. Bilbo watched that magical display full of awe. In a matter of seconds, Katniss sat up straight, her eyes wide open as she brusquely came out from her coma.
She quickly took notice of her unfamiliar surroundings as well to the three strangers in the room - the ridiculously short man with the weirdest pointed ears and largest feet she had ever seen; the equally weird short woman who was holding a tray of food by the doorway; and at last, the ancient wizard-looking who even though he seemed to be the oldest, Katniss had the impression - perhaps a gut feeling fed by the way he was holding his staff pointed at her - that the old man would be the hardest one to take down if she was forced to fight them.
"Calm down, child, we mean you no harm!" Gandalf said as he brought back his staff to its usual walking stick position.
Katniss quickly looked at the odd clothes she was wearing, and she felt the cold metal from the primitive catheter connected to a bucket by the side of her bed. She saw her clothes and belongings lying on a chair not far from the bed she was sitting on. She released a breath she did not know she had been holding when she noticed her bow and quiver were among these possessions. At least she was armed.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the Shire. More precisely, at Bilbo Baggins' house. Mr Baggins kindly took you in when he found you lying unconscious at his doorstep," Gandalf said tapping the shoulder of the short man.
"Are we… am I still at Two ?" Katniss asked looking from one face to the other as she quickly removed the catheter using the bedsheet that was covering her to protect her modesty.
"You are a long way from home, Miss Everdeen," Gandalf informed her with a jovial smile "You are no longer in Panem. You are in a place we call Middle Earth. But do not fret, my dear, because you are among friends. And while I am unsure about which powers decided to bring you back here, I believe I have a hunch about the reasons why they decided to send you to Mr Baggins' doorstep."
Katniss looked from Gandalf to Bilbo and then to Dora. She then took comfort realising that both small people seemed to be equally confused by the wizard words as she was.
"And would you mind sharing which reason that might be, Gandalf?" the male hobbit politely asked.
"That would be the adventure I talked about, Mr Baggins. It seems like we are going to have a burglar and a heroine after all…" the wizard mumbled the last bit more for himself than to the others present in the room.
"Oh, right…" Bilbo said not really understanding the meaning behind the wizard's statement.
"What do you mean by 'I am no longer in Panem'? What happened? Where am I?" the young woman demanded to know as she started to lose her patience with the wizard. Even though leaving Panem for good had been a not-so-secret dream that she had for a long time, she did have people that she cared about deeply there. How about Prim? Gale? Peeta? Her mother? Haymitch? And so many others... Were they also graced with this blessing of being removed from Panem as well?
"My dear Katniss, if my understanding is correct, Panem's still to become. And perhaps, with a little bit of luck, some of the horrors you lived may never come to be," the wizard then helped himself to the tiniest glass of wine and some of the cheese that was in Dora's tray and toasted to Katniss before he downed the drink in one sip.
Katniss scowled and sighed with the lack of information from the odd old man. By the looks on the faces of the other people in the room, she knew that she was not the only person present who was struggling to fully follow the line of thought of that weird old man.
"Well, that's decided. It will be very good for both of you, and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others. Look after her, Mr Baggins. I shall be back next Wednesday with the rest of the company," and just like that, the wizard left the room, leaving the three confused people inside it.
"A company? No. No. Wait, Gandalf, what do you mean by coming back with the rest of the company?" Bilbo asked feeling a bit overwhelmed with that perspective of having a company arriving soon, but Gandalf had already left the room.
"Wait!" Katniss started standing up, intending to follow the old man, but as Katniss stood on her feet, she felt dizzy, light-headed and a bit wobbly.
"Careful, Miss, you've been unconscious for almost a week!" Dora said, rushing to get the young woman back on the bed, but Katniss refused her help, deciding to remain standing.
"My cousin is right, you should take it easy, Miss… Everdeen, right?"
"Yes, Baggins, isn't it?" she asked and the hobbit nodded. "Can you be a bit more direct than that man and tell me where are we?"
"But that is one of the few things that the wizard was very clear about. You are in my house, at the Shire."
"And where is the Shire exactly?"
"At Hobbiton, of course! At the Northwest of Eriador, to be more precise…"
"Are we really outside of Panem?"
"My Lady, I have never heard of any Panem, but I can assure you that we are most definitely not there…"
She cursed in her mind as she slowly made her way to her belongings. Things that she hadn't even packed for her little excursion of District Two seemed to also have made to that place, wherever it was. Something seemed to be very off about what these strangers were telling her, but they did not seem dangerous. Well, at least these two little fellows did not look like they represented any threat. Despite that, she decided that she would keep her bow and quiver close, just in case she was misjudging them.
"Did anyone else come here with me?"
"No, I don't think so. At least, you were on your own when I found you by my doorstep,"
"And when was that?"
"Six mornings ago…"
Katniss nodded, acknowledging Bilbo's answer as she touched her fathers' old hunting jacket. She needed to get out of that place and find out what was happening with Prim and her mother.
"Listen, we have been feeding you with some clear fluids, but you surely must be starving!" the female hobbit said with a motherly warm smile. "Why don't you change into one of these lovely dresses that our neighbours have gifted you while you were unconscious and join Bilbo and I for the second breakfast? I can stay and help you get dressed if you need help…"
"Thank you, but I think I can manage. I will join you as soon as I am ready."
Dora and Bilbo nodded and left her alone in that unfamiliar bedroom. Katniss released her breath, feeling relieved for finally being on her own. They seemed like a nice couple, but she hated that feeling of being in debt. It was like Peeta's bread all over again.
Her eyes then rested at the two dresses that Dora had pointed to her. They were most definitely not from the Capitol's latest fashion, but the materials used in its confection seemed to be more rustic and steady than what she was used to wearing before her sister's name came out of that cursed bowl. Luckily, she found one change of clothes that belonged to her among her things. That was a blessing, as she did not like wearing dresses and she did not want to feel like she owned them even more. Her clothes from District Thirteen, her Mockingjay's outfit boots and her father's leather jacket would work just fine.
It took her awhile to get dressed, as she was still a bit slow due to her week of coma. She found a hairbrush at her bedside table and decided to use it. She ended up braiding her hair in a one-side braid that she always wore. After a quick glance at the mirror, she felt like she was finally looking like herself again. She grabbed her bow and quiver and went to find Bilbo and Dora, who were just finishing serving up a meal at the dinner table.
Katniss wasn't sure of what she expected of what the little man called second breakfast, but it certainly wasn't that. Food. Lot's of it. Enough to feed her and her family for an entire week. The only place that Katniss knew where such a thing would happen was in the Capitol. She tightened her grasp on her bow and started to scan the room with her sharp grey eyes looking for any sign of hidden cameras that were probably hidden somewhere. Because that surely had to be a plot from them to drive her insane, right?
"Are you all right, Lady Everdeen?" Bilbo looked a bit worried about the way the woman was looking at his home. The way she clenched to that weapon also did not please him in the least. However, his gut-feeling told him that she would not take well if he asked her to be apart of her weapon while they ate, and being such a polite hobbit as he was, he chose to ignore that.
The young woman nodded even though she still seemed to be uneasy about something that the hobbits were completely clueless about.
"Feel free to call me Katniss," she said as she decided to sit down and join them at last.
Her hosts asked her a lot of questions, and she gave them evasive short answers for most of them. Bilbo and Dora did not seem impressed by her manners, but Katniss did not care the slightest. The young woman was starting to believe that somehow she had been captured by the Capitol, and Bilbo and Dora Baggins were nothing more than a tool programmed to make her feel safe and reveal the rebel plans and locations for them.
Whereas she wasn't being a very good talker, she was certainly being a great eater. One thing that years of starvation have done to her was making her really appreciate when nice food was freely given. She put sugar and milk in her coffee like Finnick had taught her, while she wondered if Peeta would approve the omelette and the lemon cake that were served along with berries, tomatoes, bacon and mushrooms. Well, she certainly did, but she was an easy customer when it came to food, after all.
Dora mentioned something about going back to her own home after that brunch, and Katniss was surprised to find out that they weren't a couple like she had assumed. Bilbo then promised to take Katniss to the street market once he was done with clearing up the dishes. Katniss did not offer to help, instead deciding to use that moment to carefully scan his home for clues about her whereabouts.
Katniss had failed to perceive it before, but everything inside that house seemed to be made for small people like Bilbo and Dora. Even though Katniss was most definitely not considered to be a tall person with her 5.2-foot height, she did tower over them. She failed to find any signs of hidden cameras, or any other electrical appliances, which she thought to be a little bit off. Not a single television screen on the site. She spotted a map on Bilbo's desk, and that was most definitely not the map of Panem that she was familiar with.
"Are you ready to go?" Bilbo came back so sneakily that she had almost gone to her arrows when he opened his mouth. Luckily, he did not notice the change in her stance and gave her a warm smile as he invited her to follow him out of the door with a hand gesture. Which she did, but taking her bow and quiver along with her.
As soon she left the hobbit hole, Katniss was mesmerised by the beauty of the Shire. That was definitely not what she had expected. Those beautiful green hills, that stunning blue sky and bucolic countryside hobbit holes, with their freshly painted fences and colourful flowers. Vivid green trees, unlike anything she had witnessed before. She felt like she was inside a fairytale land.
As they walked down the hill, a bunch of hobbit children went running towards them screaming 'Lady Bird! Lady Bird! Lady Bird!'. The youngest girl in the middle offered Katniss a bunch of freshly picked flowers.
"Is that for me?" Katniss couldn't help but smile for the first time since she had woken up and accepted the gift. "Thank you so much! You are all so kind."
The kids shared a giggle and ran back from the same direction that they had arrived. That innocent gesture made her feel slightly less wary.
"I should have warned you about that, Miss Katniss. You have become quite a celebrity here at the Shire. Everyone cannot have enough from the warrior Lady whose armour looked like a bird…" Bilbo said pointing at the children who were still running away from them.
"They are all so tiny. I am sorry. I didn't mean to be rude," she corrected herself as she realised who she was talking to - the shortest man she had ever seen.
"Of course they are, Miss. They are hobbits after all, aren't they?"
"What is a hobbit?"
Bilbo's eyes were wide open, as he was finally getting the size of her ignorance.
"Small folk from the Shire, like me, my Lady; I'm a hobbit, the same way that you are a daughter of man, from the human race. What did you think I was?"
"Well, I was wondering if you were a genetically modified human, but I never thought that you would not be a human at all.."
"A modified human? What in Yavanna's name do you mean by that?"
"At the Capitol, people do that all the time. Some people actually pay quite a lot of money for colouring their skin pink, blue, green, among other things…"
As she started explaining the concept of genetic modification, the hobbit looked horrified with the idea of someone being genetically modified. That made him gain some trust points with her.
If Katniss had any doubt about the truth on what the hobbit was telling about him not being a human, it certainly died when they arrived at the market and she saw a whole crowd of little people - well, hobbits - who were clearly not human. The market reminded her a bit of the Hob at District Twelve, only that it was a much-improved version of it, as people at the Shire actually had good quality food to sell and a decent amount of money to spend.
Katniss was overwhelmed by all the kindness that the hobbits were showing her. Even though she did not have any coin to spend at the market stalls, more than once she had been gifted with something different - a bar of soap, an apple, a raspberry cookie - as she followed Bilbo around the market. While they walked around, she heard two hobbits complaining about the recent lack of rabbit and goose meat, while she heard a third one declaring how much money he would be willing to pay to eat some stag again. She tried to hide her grin, but she knew that she was probably not doing a good job at that. She had a bow and a quiver full of arrows. If there was one thing she knew how to do well, was to hunt.
She was determined to make some money, to pay Bilbo Baggins for his generous hospitality, but also so she could leave him and find some answers about the whereabouts of her family and friends.