This one is a birthday gift for my bestie Norbertsmom. I began publishing it on Tumblr but I'm going to post it on here as well. Special thanks to Javits for betaing.
FYI I don't own the Hunger Games
The woods were silent.
Katniss glanced at her reflection in the river. She was not beautiful, she was small for her age. Her skin was not fair nor was she golden-haired like her younger sister. Katniss sighed recalling a time when things were different. A time when the Capitol meant something, a time when her father was alive.
Katniss picked at her hose. To hunt in the forest, she must inhabit the garb of men. She closed her eyes and she could see the past.
Six years ago, the Capitol was a gleaming city on a hill, with the center gleaming white castle made of white stone. The walls that surrounded the castle were twenty feet thick and Snow, like the King before him, was merciless. His noble Lords vied for power through marriage. All marriages amongst the higher echelons of society had to be approved by the King, and those that were not sanctioned faced the full wrath of the King.
Katniss worried, she'd heard of the fickle ways of the King. It was rumored he was not a man of science but a man deeply enriched in the dark arts. Her father, a lowly Knight, was being called to the Capitol.
"Must you go?"
"Katniss, I swore fidelity to the King the day I became a Knight."
Katniss wanted to argue, but her father was once nothing more than a Serf, a common miner who through an act of bravery became a Knight and was awarded to marry her mother. To change one's stripes was unheard of in Panem.
After the Great War darkness settled amongst the survivors, and lawlessness abounded. Sickness, lack of resources due to ecological disasters, and education nearly threatened to wipe out the remaining populations. Fourteen delegates from the remaining largest cities met and elected one of them as their King. They became the Nobel Lords in charge of massive territories called Districts. In their Districts, they divided the territory amongst Regents to rule in their stead. The Regents did the same, creating Knights to preside over smaller parcels of land to rule over the Serfs and the Merchants.
The feudalistic society worked, as the families-maintained control of the population. Their title was passed on from firstborn to firstborn. That was until Snow forcefully usurped his sister's crown. The long-established families were in peril of losing their birth rights so they began to form alliances to keep power and appease the King.
Katniss had heard of rumors of what happened to those who did not follow the king's decree. Men and women were tortured and quartered, forced to fight to the death in Arenas for the pleasure of the King. However, those who the King raged against were said to be handed to his wizard Crane who held the power to turn humans into frogs, and dogs. Katniss shuttered at the thought of her father falling into the hands of the King. Her father being summoned to court was not welcome news, and she felt it in her gut.
Six years after her father's disappearance they were living in the ruins of a keep. Katniss hunted illegally to feed her family which consisted of women. Including her mother and sister. She pushed herself away from the water and began hunting. That's when she saw the strange bird. She tracked it as it flew in the sky. Katniss followed it until it perched itself on a branch. She aimed at the bird and it opened its wings while staring at her. Katniss put the bow down, because of the look the bird gave as if it knew her.
It felt odd and everything inside of her being told her to leave as quickly as possible. Animals did not stare into the faces of the hunters. Katniss walked away.
"Katniss," it called.
The hairs at the back of her neck stood up. She ran as fast as she could. When she arrived at the keep she found a man sitting at the steps of the keep she and her family lived in, he held a staff. Katniss came to a halt. She watched the bird fly to the man's staff. He had long dark graying hair and wore a long gray cloak.
"Katniss daughter of Eragon of Everdeen. You must come with me."
She wasn't one for authority. Katniss gave him a cursory look before she opened her mouth. "Mother," Katniss shouted. She held up her bow and arrow toward the man in front of her. "PRIM!"
"I am afraid you are late, your mother and sisters are casualties of Snow."
Katniss wasn't sure if she should believe him. She ran past him into the small keep. There was no life. There were bowls scattered on the ground. The tapestry her mother and sister created was ripped in half. She closed her eyes and concentrated so she could unlock the memories from the room. Katniss found herself standing in the room. She saw when the king's men rushed into a room filled with women, dragging them outside. She could hear their cries. Katniss watched helplessly as her mother and her sister clung to each other. Then the room began to collapse. She tried to see past when they were gathered. She saw a lightning strike followed by a flock of birds flying into the wind. Her sister and mother were no longer alive. Katniss felt a bone-crushing pain in the deep recess of her heart.
She slipped to the floor mourning their loss. The old man arrived long after the king's men had left. He sent the bird after her. He touched her head and it eased her pain, but unused to being touched she got up, wiping her face. "Who are you?"
"I am called Haymitch."
"I thought you were dead." Katniss took a step back suddenly not sure she should trust the old wizard who at one point was stronger than Crane. That was until he began drinking.
"As you can see, I am alive. Now tell me, daughter of Paylor, how long have you had the sight."
Katniss scowled. "Why did you come here and where is my father?"
"I am sorry for your father. I arrived too late to do anything about him. But I can help you, save the kingdom from snow for you are the one that I have been seeking."
Katniss took a deep breath. There was a prophecy cast over her as a child but it wasn't that she was to be the one to save the kingdom. It had to do with the mark on her wrist. She was known as the cursed one. "I can't, I'm cursed."
"Wives tales," he gruffly said.
"I am poor fatherless and now motherless and you wish me to go on a grand adventure with you?"
"Incredulous child, come along," Haymitch said. "Before they come for you too."
Katniss turned to him ready to argue but his face looked determined. "Fine," Katniss whispered.
