Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or Alice in Wonderland.
Thank you to NKubie for pre-reading and my beta, Vintagejgc. Both of the ladies have been just plain awesome- they helped me brainstorm, shook their pom poms and held my hand. Love you both!
Summary: The Hunger Games/Alice in Wonderland crossover. This story picks up after Katniss drops the tracker jackers onto the Careers. Follow as the tracker jacker venom brings the girl on fire down the rabbit hole.
Chapter Four: The Mutt
After three quick thumps of his paw Peeta hops into the house shouting, "Katniss, don't just do something, stand there! Wait! No, stand up and do something. I need you to find my oven mitts! I'm dreadfully late."
"Late for what?" I blurt out after rising to my feet and stumbling inside.
"My oven mitts!" He barks and suddenly a cannon fires in the distance. Both of us gasp and Peeta's nose twitches spastically. "The mitts! At once!"
He's a blur of movement, flour clouding the air as he haphazardly throws ingredients into a bowl and mixes furiously. I take a look around and start searching for these missing oven mitts while muttering, "Goodness. I suppose I'll be taking orders from Buttercup next."
I search all over, making my way through the living room and then up the stairs, no sign of any oven mitts around. In the bedroom I peek in a night stand drawer and my sense of smell is assaulted by vanilla and cinnamon cookies. My stomach rumbles, my hunger pains severe, and I don't hesitate to pluck one of the cookies up and stuff it in my mouth. Oh, it tastes so good, warm and sweet, I eat another while I continue rifling through this room, fruitless in my search for these darn oven mitts.
I'm about to go back downstairs when a strange yet familiar feeling runs through my body. Is the room is getting smaller? Oh no, the room isn't getting smaller. I'm getting bigger! My body grows at a frightening speed, my feet flying forward and plowing through the door, my hands break easily through the windows, my arms snake through the frames, and I'm trapped, this house my prison.
Somewhere below me Peeta is screaming, it's a blood curdling sound. I press my face against the top of the window and I see him outside, running around in circles, stomping his little rabbit foot in anger.
"Help!" he cries, "my oven mitts are missing and there is a monster in my house!"
The Dodo comes running up, her mouth falling open in shock at the sight of my giant booted foot, beside her is a tall lizard dressed in a simple black shirt and pants.
"That is no monster," says the Dodo, "That is a mutt."
"This mutt has great taste in shoes," says the lizard, nodding in approval over this new footwear of mine.
How curious, I think as I tilt my head. Gone is my reaping dress replaced with black leather, soft and supple it covers my body like a glove. Raven feathers cover my arms and I scowl thinking that I look like some kind of deranged bird. No wonder they think I'm a mutt.
The white rabbit looks at his pocket watch and grumbles, but I can only make out a few words; something about snow and bread, mitts and mutts and cookie thieves.
He turns to the Dodo and asks, "How do you suppose we get it out?"
"Cinna?" Dodo asks the lizard, "Have you ever been down a chimney?"
Cinna? That lizard IS Cinna? Curiouser and curiouser...
"Pfft," The lizard... Cinna waves his hand nonchalantly, "Why of course. Chimneys are quite popular in the capital. Just about everyone has one."
"Excellent, excellent. Now just hop down the chimney and pull that mutt out of there."
"Righto," he responds then looks up. "No, that won't work at all. It's much too big to fit up the chimney!"
The Dodo, lizard, and white rabbit are all looking up at me, tapping their chins while they contemplate this predicament.
"Ah ha!" Effie exclaims. "It's simple; we'll smoke the mutt out!"
They start clapping their hands and giggling, and I am starting to panic. Smoke me out? Before I can utter a noise of protest, Cinna is climbing the side of the house and out of my sight. A cloud of black soot comes from the fire place and then Cinna steps through, a box of matches in his hand.
He strides toward me, a giant smile taking over his lizard face as he pulls a match from the box and strikes it aflame. He leans forward, close to my face and for a moment I wonder what lizard would taste like...
"You're not afraid of fire, are you, Katniss?"
He drops the match and I'm ablaze, but just like the opening ceremonies there is no heat, just a faint tickling sensation.
He puts a scaly finger to his chin as he steps back to appraise me.
"And last, but certainly not least," he says as he comes closer once more. He takes my leather collar and flips it revealing my mockingjay pin. He shines it with oil and buffs it until it glows.
Plucking a carrot from his pocket, he holds in up in front of my nose and says, "It's from the garden. Eat it before the flames die out, and remember..." he shakes a finger at me, a paternal gesture. "Keep your head held high. Smile. They're going to love you."
With a grin and a wink, Cinna stuffs the carrot in my mouth and then leaps away, scuttling out of the room.
Bound by this house, gagged with a carrot, panic begins to set in. I can't stay here. Flight is essential.
Cinna's voice is echoing in my ears. "Eat it before the flames die out."
I take a shuddering breath through my nose and look out the window. The Dodo, lizard and rabbit are gone. I chomp on the carrot, hum at the taste, relish the sustenance.
My satisfaction is short lived. My muscles tighten and spasm, my body shrinking so fast that it's nauseating. When I finally come to my senses, I lie still for a moment, taking in my surroundings, grimacing when I realize how small I am.
No matter, I think. I must flee!
At just a few inches high, climbing down the stairs is more difficult than it should be. Jumping from step to step I'm winded as I reach the bottom, but I keep moving, making my way over the rubble of the destroyed furniture. Once outside, I run toward the garden hoping to find a hiding place among the various plants and flowers.
As I step into the garden, I'm careful to stay hidden behind flower stalks/ that at my size seem like tree trunks. I make my way past a cluster of ferns and then I hear a twig snap behind me. In one motion, I turn to the sound, bringing the bow and arrow to my shoulder. There is no one there. No one I can see anyway.
"Your stings look much better," I hear and spin around, arrow at the ready.