And I'm already typing up chapter 1! Yay
Guys... THis chapter is over 7000 works long! That's twelve pages!
Thanks to Mason Oury for leaving the first review!
So this chapter is not my favorite. The original chapter started out pretty bad, but got a little better. But in the original fanfic, I didn't talk at all about the interviews, and I just skimmed over training scores. I promise, this fic WILL get better. Just hold on.
Something to take note of: Most fanfic Katniss's are extremely ooc. Most authors make them tough and deadly and brash. Katniss is all of those things, but fanfic authors take it to the extreme by making her a bit psycho. If you remember in the books, Katniss is not like that. She's tough and closed off, but Chaff literally kisses her on the lips in Catching Fire. She doesn't scream at him. She doesn't kick him where the sun don't shine. She's actually embarrassed. A bit revolted, yes, but embarrassed. Her first reaction would be to blush. Not attack him. Yes, she attacked Peeta after he said he liked her, but that only happened once, and only because she was afraid it would make her look weak. One Haymitch explained that it made her look desirable, she calmed down. Her number one priority was getting home to Prim, and she was afraid Peeta had ruined it.
So my Katniss might seem a little calmer than what you're used to. That's just because I'm afraid of going down the psycho serial killer Katniss path.
CAN WE ALSO take a moment to admire Clove's skillz? Seriously! Look at the knife she throws at Katniss in the movie. The one that Katniss uses to cut down the tracker jacker nest. That thing is NOT balanced for throwing. I don't think that was an accident. They wanted to show just how good Clove is at throwing knives. Take it from someone who's a knife thrower. That's tricky, man.
Chapter 1
Katniss Everdeen
Our little girl's alliance actually worked out very well. It was me, Lana, Cameron from District 7, and Savannah from District 11. We trained together for a few days, and shared our skills with each other.
When the training scores came around, I was very excited for them. Savannah scored a seven. She was excellent at climbing, and decent with a slingshot. Lana, who was a bit older than us, scored a nine. She was pretty good with a knife, and she was really fast, too. Cameron, or Cami as she liked to be called, scored another seven. A score of seven is fantastic for a twelve year old, so we were all very excited. She was amazing with an axe, which I guess is because she's from the lumber district.
And I got myself an eight. An eight is a very good score, even for older tributes. Eights are a low score for a career tribute, but very impressive for an outlying district.
The training scores aren't necessarily telling the public just how strong you are. They are meant to tell you your chance of winning the Games. No one has ever received a score higher than ten, but there's usually only one or two tens per year. The gamemakers assume those tributes will be the ones facing each other in the finale.
My interview flew by. Caesar asked me a bit about my family, and my impressive training score, and my alliance. And, of course, my memorable entrance. My flames during the tribute parade were completely adored. No one remembered Lucius for them. He wasn't very good at the whole "making friends thing." But I was. Everyone loved me.
When my pedestal rose up into the arena, the first thing I noticed was the silver bow, right in front of me. It was resting against the side of Cornucopia, trying to tempt me. To lure me into the bloodbath. I turned my head, looking for my allies. I noticed the District 2 girl, Victoria, was next to me, her eyes trained on my bow.
Cameron was five places to my right, Savannah was two more past Cameron. I couldn't see Lana, so I assumed she was on the other side.
Twenty seconds.
I made up my mind. That bow was mine. No way was a dumb blonde girl going to take my bow.
I made eye contact with Cameron, and nodded towards the bow, trying to make her understand my plan. She followed my eyes and saw the bow. Savannah also noticed, and shook her head frantically. Don't. She mouthed at me, but Cameron nodded, a small smile on her face. That was all I needed.
I watched the timer count down from five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
I took off running. I knew I could make it. I was the fastest runner my age in the entire district. I won all the races at school. The only one who could beat me was Gale, and only at long distance. It didn't take me long to reach the bow. Victoria was right behind me, but she wasn't nearly as fast.
"Katniss!" I heard Cameron shout. She was about ten yards away from me. I began to run away from the Cornucopia, but heard Cami shout again. I turned around and saw the boy from District 8 coming at me with an axe. He knocked me over and raised the weapon above his head.
And then he slouched against me. I looked up and saw Golda, from DIstrict 1, standing several feet away. I took the boy's axe, his backpack, and my bow and quiver and ran away from the scene. I had just swung my backpack onto my back when I felt the pressure of another one of Golda's throwing knives hitting me in the back. If she had thrown it just a second earlier, I would be dead.
I ran for about five more minutes after I made it out of the large central clearing. My pace had slowed considerably, and I was getting a little dizzy.
"Katniss!" I heard Cameron again and sighed with relief when I saw both her and Savannah alive and well and running towards me.
"That was so dumb," Savannah told me. I smiled a little at her, then handed Cameron the axe I stole off of the District 8 boy. They each had a backpack, and Savannah had a slingshot.
"Nice," I said when I noticed it. "Was that close to you, or did you run for it?"
Savannah smiled. "It wasn't too far away. It doesn't have much value."
I nodded. That's usually how it works. Items with more value, such as my bow or a sword or any other large weapon, will go right up against the Cornucopia, or inside of it. Items with less value are placed closer to the pedestal. For example, there was a 3 foot piece of plastic about four feet away from my pedestal, and a loaf of bread further in.
The cannon went off, signaling the end of the bloodbath. I counted twelve deaths.
"Right. First things first is to camouflage that horrendous backpack of yours." Cameron said with a smile.
We walked a little further into the woods. I open my backpack and look through its contents.
There wasn't much. Just an empty water bottle, a bottle of iodine, a sleeping bag, and some dried fruit and nuts. Savannah's had some rope, a pair of socks, a half-gallon (also empty) and a little more food. Cami had some wire, a can of pork, a sleeping bag of her own, some rope and a small water bottle, which was more like a wine-skin.
We climbed a tall tree for the night, and I made room in my sleeping bag for Savannah. We used the rope to tie ourselves to the tree.
It was three hours late that the Panem anthem began to play.
The first face that appeared was the girl from District 3. I sighed, irritated. That means both tributes from District 1 and District 2 survived. I was happy, however, when the District 4 boy appeared next. It was rare for a career to die in the bloodbath, and that was good for us.
I immediately felt guilty. Yes, their death meant a better chance for my survival, but he was still just a kid, like me.
Besides them, the District 5 boy, both tributes from District 6, the boy from District 7, the boy from District 8, and both tributes from District 9 and 10 were also in the sky. So was Lucius.
"Were you close?" Savannah asked Cameron when her tribute partner's face appeared.
Cameron snorted. "No. He wasn't much, but he was from home." Her voice dropped at the end and I could tell she was trying to be tough.
"Were you close with Lucius, Katniss?" Cameron asked me.
I shook my head, then realized she couldn't see me in the dark. "Not really. I knew he was never... He was never going to..." My voice stopped working.
"Make it?" Cami supplied.
"Yeah," I said quietly. That ended all conversation.
I knew not all of us could win, and I knew Savannah wasn't really Victor material, but it broke my heart to think of winning without either of them. Especially if winning meant they would die. I thought about the District 8 boy, when the District 1 girl's knife went through his heart. I imagined the same thing happening to Cami or Savannah or Lana. My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to let them fall.
I felt Savannah look at me. She must have heard my shaky breaths, but she didn't say anything. I felt her warm hand close around my cold, clammy one.
It was around midnight when I awoke to a loud snap. My first thought was the branch was breaking, but that wasn't the case. I turned my head and saw a campfire, just a few feet away from our tree. It was the District 8 girl.
I rolled my eyes. What an idiot. Did she have a death wish? I heard laughing as the Career pack approached their prey. I poked Savannah, so she was awake in case they saw us.
I heard a scream, but no cannon.
"Are you sure she's dead?" Victoria asked suspiciously.
"Of course she's dead," the District 1 boy told her, irritated. "I stuck her myself."
"There's no harm in going back to check," Victoria argued.
"Yeah, Platinum. Just go and check." Caleb, from District 2 said.
"He said she's dead, so she's dead," Golda said. Ugh, I thought. Even her voice is annoying. She was probably rolling her eyes and twirling her hair.
"Keep acting like that and you'll be dead," Victoria muttered. I smiled to myself. She might be psychotic, but she's right on.
"Just go back and check, Platinum." I started when I heard that voice. It was Lana. I was surprised she was allowed in the Career pack. Yes, she's from a Career District and she had a good score, but she was very young.
Platinum stalked off, grumbling.
"What's that?" Victoria pointed up at us. I froze. I knew we had been discovered. "I'm pretty sure trees aren't that orange."
I heard Cameron huff. She had wanted to camouflage my backpack right off, but Savannah and I told her we could wait until the next morning.
"It's a backpack," Caleb said. Then he yelled, "We see you!"
"It's probably the Girl on Fire," Victoria told him. "I saw her take an orange backpack from a boy I killed."
The cannon boomed, and a second later, Platinum reappeared.
"Was she dead?" Caleb asked.
"She is now," Platinum smirked.
"Lana, you're small. Climb up the tree and tell us who's up there." Golda ordered her.
"I've never climbed a tree before," Lana admitted. I could almost see her blush from where I was.
"Never? You haven't climbed one tree in your whole life?"
"I live on a beach. There's no climbing trees on a beach." Lana defended herself.
Golda threw a knife, hoping to hit me. Savannah yelped before she could stop herself.
"Shut up," Cameron hissed. Somehow, Caleb heard her.
"There's at least two of them," He informed the rest.
"There's probably three," Platinum said, "They were planning on an alliance."
I realized that we'd been found out, so I decided to have some fun.
"Maybe you should throw the sword," I called down to them.
"Katniss Everdeen! I knew you were there. I thought you were smarter than to carry around a bright orange backpack." said Caleb.
"I told her we should camouflage it, but did they listen to me? No," Cameron drew out the 'o'. "Why on earth would they listen to me?"
"How's the weather up there?" Caleb asked.
"It's a bit warm for my tastes." I grabbed my bow and nocked an arrow. I fired, aiming for Golda, but it was hard to aim with Savannah right up against me, so I hit her leg instead.
She screamed. Victoria laughed a little. Platinum immediately knelt down and worked the arrow out of her leg.
"You can't just pull it out. I thought you trained in this type of stuff." Cameron rolled her eyes.
"You have to break the shaft," I explained. "Since the arrow came out the other end. You can't pull it out like that."
"Why don't you come down here and do it for me?" Platinum asked in a calm voice.
"Why would she do that?" Savannah asked. "Katniss is the one who shot her."
Platinum turned away and broke the shaft. Golda howled in pain.
"I forgot to mention that it hurts," I said with a cheeky grin. Platinum wrapped up his District partner's leg with some bandages from Victoria's backpack. He tried to throw a spear at us, too, but missed.
"Let's just wait them out." Lana reasoned. "They can't go anywhere."
"Are you crazy?" Golda protested. "That sadistic little brat just shot me!"
"And I'll do worse if you don't stop whining," Victoria threatened. I had learned to really appreciate her attitude.
"She was aiming for your face and missed," Caleb said. "She can't be that much of a threat."
Cami and I exchanged grins. They weren't at all suspicious about my eight. Caleb was just jealous I had stolen his thunder in the parade.
"I've got first watch," Lana said as she began to build a fire.
We only had to wait about two more hours before the Careers from District 1 and 2 were asleep. The District 1 tributes would never last. They were both attractive and skilled, but not enough. Golda thought she was better than she really was. Her only major asset was her knife throwing. However, she wasn't very bright and she wasn't very fast. Platinum, on the other hand, was very good with a spear. He was the natural choice for the leader, but he just wouldn't win.
The District 2 tributes were better. Victoria wasn't nearly as good with a bow as she thought she was, if our time in the training center taught me anything. She was actually very good with a short sword, however. Caleb, however good he was with a sword, he just wasn't bright as all.
Lana climbed the tree as soon as her allies fell asleep.
"I thought you couldn't climb trees?" Cameron said.
Lana smiled. "Oh. I lied." Cameron nodded. "We need to leave before they get up."
"We should take a few out if we can," Cameron argued.
"No, we might wake them up. We would never last in a head-on-head confrontation." I disagreed.
"We could drop tracker jackers on them," Savannah said.
Lana frowned. "Um, what?"
Savannah pointed up and we all looked. "Tracker-Jackers."
There was, in fact, a nest of Tracker-Jackers on a branch about ten feet above us.
Lana nodded. "Okay, I'll cut it down. You go."
The three of us began to climb down the tree. I heard Lana groan in pain as my feet hit the ground. I looked around quickly. The four Careers were still asleep.
"You guys go ahead. I'm going to wait for Lana. Go look for water. We'll find you." I whispered frantically.
Savannah nodded and took off running silently with Cameron. I walked a few feet outside the Career's camp, at what I thought was a safe distance. It was only two more minutes before the nest fell down. Lana was the first to scream. She jumped out of the tree right behind the branch, and I was surprised she didn't break something. The nest exploded with thousands of angry Tracker-Jackers, swarming around the Careers. I guess I wasn't standing far enough away, because I was stung twice. Once on my arm and once on my neck.
I screamed. It was some of the worst pain I had ever experienced. I ran as fast as I could in my delirious state and collapsed on the forest floor. I laid there for an hour or so until I heard a cannon boom. I made my way back to the tree and immediately felt sick. There were two bodies on the ground near the tree. The first was Golda. Her features, once beautiful, were badly damaged. They were swollen and covered in large boils. Lying closer to me was Lana. She was in even worse shape than Golda. She was the cannon I heard. I emptied the contents of my stomach into the bush next to me. I considered both of these deaths my fault. Golda couldn't get up and run because her leg was wounded. Lana didn't know how to properly descend a tree and must've hurt herself when she fell. I could've prevented that by taking her place.
I felt myself getting dizzy, and passed out in the grass.
When I woke up again, I was lying under a tree with some bad smelling leaves covering my stings. Savannah and Cami sat a few feet off, sipping from their water bottles,
"How long was I out?" I asked as I sat up. Savannah looked up.
"You're awake!"
I smiled a little at her enthusiasm.
"We didn't think you were going to ever wake up again. It's been two days."
My eyes widened "Two... days?" I couldn't believe it.
Instead of replying, Cameron handed me a bag of fruit and my water bottle, which was filled up. "There's a river about a half mile north from here," she told me. "We figured we shouldn't camp too close because other tributes will want to use it, too."
I nodded. "That's probably smart."
"There were two deaths from the bees. Golda from District 1, Lana, and the DIstrict 11 boy. That's all there was."
I frowned. "That won't last. The people will get bored."
Savannah agreed. "That's what we were just talking about before you woke up." Her stomach rumbled ever so slightly. I threw her the bag of dried fruit.
"Eat whatever you want. I can always hunt."
She smiled gratefully and chewed on a piece.
"We were talking about how to take down the Careers. Besides the three of them, it's just the girl from District 3, the boy from District 5, and the three of us," Cameron said. "The girl from 3 and the boy from 5 wouldn't be a match for us physically, but they're smart. The Careers are the only serious problem."
"We need to get rid of their supplies," I said suddenly.
"What?"
"The Careers have all the supplies from the Cornucopia. If we get rid of that, they won't have any food, first aid supplies, or extra weapons. They aren't used to starvation the way we are. They won't last."
Savannah grinned as she figured it out. "They have all their supplies stacked up in a pyramid by the Cornucopia. There's some kind of trap on it."
We made a plan and put it into play the next morning. Savannah started a fire to attract the Careers while Cami and I started walking towards the Cornucopia. When we got there, the Careers were already gone, leaving the girl from 3 to guard.
The District 5 boy appeared from no where, running and jumping his way around the pyramid, grabbing just a little bit of supplies. Not enough to be missed. At one point he stopped in the middle of his weird little dance and froze where he was, one foot in the air. After a second, he seemed to let out a breath and continued.
"You take 5, I'll take 3," Cami whispered. Before I could stop her, she threw her axe and it flew several yards and lodged in the boy's head. The cannon went off. It was actually very impressive.
"Cami!" I hissed. "The Careers heard that. They'll get suspicious!"
Cameron shrugged it off.
"Hey!" I shouted to the boy. "I won't kill you if you bring supplies for me and two other tributes."
"And a new axe," Cameron whispered.
"And a new axe," I yelled.
The boy continued picking through the pyramid, grabbing enough supplies for the four of us. It would be enough for several days. He dumped it on the ground at our feet, wearily eyeing my nocked bow string.
"What's the trap?" I asked him as he began packing his supplies in a backpack.
"Landmines,"
I smiled. "Take what you need for the rest of the games. I'm going to blow it up."
"Thanks, Katniss. But this is all I need. There's a lot of supplies around the forest, if you know where to look."
We shook hands and he began to walk further into the forest, when a rock came out of nowhere and hit her in the head. The cannon went off again. Caleb saw us, but also saw our ready weapons. He didn't have his pack with him. He knew if he killed one of us, the other would get him just as fast. So he turned and ran.
I turned my focus back to the landmines. At the top was a bag of apples.
It took me a couple of shots. My arm shook from the Tracker Jacker sting, messing with my aim, but eventually, all the apples tumbled down and triggered the mines. I didn't wait around. I grabbed Cameron and ran.
We ran for a few minutes before we heard the scream.
"Katniss!" It was Savannah.
"Savannah!" Cameron shouted in response.
"Cameron!"
"Savannah!" I screamed.
"Help! Katniss!"
We found the third fire, unlit. We kept running until we made it to the second fire. Savannah was there. She was trapped in a net.
"Cameron," She yelled. Cameron ran to her side first and used her sharp new axe to cut the net. Savannah sprang free and I engulfed her in a big hug.
"Watch out!" Cami yelled. She was too late. Savanah pulled away as a spear impaled her. I looked up and saw Platinum standing there, another spear in hand. But I was faster.
Boom.
The cannon went off and the District 1 boy fell, an arrow protruding from his chest.
"Savannah," I sobbed as I knelt next to her.
"Did you destroy the food?" She whispered
"Every last bit of it," Cameron told her.
"Good."
Cami got up and took Platinum's jacket for extra warmth and his backpack.
"One of you has to win," Savannah told us. I nodded. She relaxed a little. "Sing,"
I opened my mouth and sang for her in my young, immature soprano.
Deep in the meadow,
Under the willow;
A bed of grass,
A soft green pillow.
Lay down your head,
And close your eyes,
And when you wake,
The sun will rise.
Savannah died before I finished the first chorus.
I wiped away my tears. "We need to bury her," I said.
Cameron shook her head. "The hovercraft needs to take her."
"Not with dirt, with flowers." I stood and pulled out several bright colored flower and arranged them around Savannah. When Cami figured out what I was doing, she helped, too.
In the sky that night, there was Platinum first, then the girl from 3, then the boy from 5 and Savannah last.
"Attention, tributes, attention," Claudius Templesmith's voice resounded throughout the arena. "Tomorrow there will be a feast at the Cornucopia. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you has a wound that desperately needs to be treated by only the best medicine."
I frowned and looked at Cameron. "We don't need anything."
"Umm... yes we do." she argued.
"What?"
"For your arm." Oh. Since Savannah died, I forgot completely about my arm. The Tracker-Jacker sting made it hard for me to aim, and if I couldn't shoot, I was just dead weight. "Savannah said the leaves would help, but it would take up to two weeks for the sting to disappear completely. It's right on your elbow, so it makes it hard for your arm to move correctly. The games are coming to a close. It's just you, me, Caleb, and Victoria. If one of us wants to live, we need to be at one-hundred percent."
Cameron had this tone that ended all arguments.
"We should leave now. We can be there when the medicine is dropped off and be out before they know what hit them," I told her. She agreed.
That night, as we slept in the Cornucopia, Cameron spoke about her life in DIstrict 7 for the first time.
"I have a twin, you know," She said. I looked at her. "Identical. You would like her."
"What's she like?" I asked, just to keep the conversation alive. I knew Cameron would have to die in order for me to live, but I wanted to remember every detail about her.
"Well for one thing, she looks a lot like me," Cami said sarcastically. I laughed dryly. "She's very blunt. She says whatever's on her mind, it doesn't matter if it hurts your feelings or not. She can use an axe too, you know. But despite what you might think, she's actually kind of a girl."
"That's because she is a girl," I said, raising an eyebrow.
"But she acts like one. She likes to talk about fashion and play with hair and give beauty tips. She just also likes blood and gore and beating people up."
I smiled. "She sounds like you,"
"Yeah, but I won't talk to you about fashion."
"Only because you're too shy. You aren't nearly as blunt. You aren't the type to tell me I look like trash."
"Because I don't talk fashion," we both laughed. "Jo told me if I don't win, she's going to volunteer when she's eighteen, so she can avenge me."
"If you don't win, I'll make sure she doesn't volunteer," I promised.
"What makes you so sure one of us will win?" She challenged me.
"No way am I letting psychotic Caleb beat me," I said.
Cameron laughed. "What about Victoria?"
I pondered that. "She can beat me. I wouldn't mind that." If anyone was going to beat me at the Hunger Games, it should be Victoria or Cameron. District 2 hadn't won in a couple years. Last year it was District 4, with Finnick Odair, and the two years before that, it was District 1, with Gloss and Cashmere Nicholo from District 1.
The table with our bags appeared at 8 AM sharp. As soon as we saw them, we grabbed the one with my district number on it and took off running back to our camp. We almost made it, but Victoria was faster than I expected. She threw a knife, which found its way into Cameron's leg. This surprised me, since long range was not her thing. She fell down in the grass and Victoria ran out of the woods.
"No!" I screamed. I ran back to help her.
"Katniss, run!" she shouted at me, but I didn't listen. I helped my friend to her feet and pulled the throwing knife out of her leg. We started running out of the clearing, and I heard Victoria close behind us. Cameron's injured leg was slowing us down considerably. I laid an arrow on my string and stopped running so I could shoot at the District 2 tribute. I hit her shoulder and she screamed, but kept running after me. I briefly wondered where Caleb was, but didn't stop to look around.
Victoria tackled me from behind. I heard Cami scream my name, but I told her to keep running.
I rolled onto my back so I could fight her, but Victoria was on top of me and our brief fight was over in seconds. She had me pinned to the ground, her feet pinning my wrists and her sword at my throat.
She smirked. "I told Caleb I would kill you, and I would make it slow."
I strained against her, but she pressed her sword against my neck and I stopped.
"I heard all about your little alliance with other twelve year old girls. You really should be home playing dress up, instead of trying to fire a bow and arrow. You and Cameron and Lana. She betrayed us, you know."
I grunted, trying to kick my legs free. It was no use.
"There was another girl, wasn't there? What was her name again? The girl from 11?"
"Savannah," I spat.
"Oh, whatever. We killed her. And now I'm going to kill you. I think I'll let nature take care of 7. I know where I hit her. She won't last three days. I do just have one quick question. If you're so awful with a bow, how did you get an eight?"
I refused to answer. If I was going to die, I didn't want to think about how I could've lived if I had run away instead of waiting for Lana, who was already dead by the time I was stung.
I unconsciously glanced at my Tracker Jacker sting. Victoria looked too, and saw just how swollen my arm was.
She laughed. "You actually can use a bow, can't you? Is that what's in the bag? Medicine so you can actually do something useful? That's pathetic."
I tried to kick up my legs again, but before I could, Victoria slumped against me, and I saw the axe handle sticking out of her back.
We opened my bag once we returned to our camp and, as suspected, it was medicine for my sting. I spread it over my swollen arm. The directions said the swelling should go down in a few hours.
"I love Capitol medicine," I said. Cami agreed.
The weather turned very cold as the sun went down, and it started to rain hard. Cami and I got into our sleeping bags and put on Platinum's extra jacket and Savannah's extra socks and huddled together in the corner of the cave.
In about an hour, we heard a silver parachute drop outside our cave. I stepped out and gasped. It was pretty big for a sponsor gift. I pulled it inside. Cameron opened it. Inside was a feast. There was hot soup, bread, cheese, apples, and even a pot of tea.
"The games are ending," she said. "Our mentors must've wanted to use all of our sponsor money. It's just four of us left."
"Thank you Haymitch," I said loudly. I searched for a note, and found one under the bread. "Eat up and stay warm. We're all counting on you two." I read out loud.
"Who's it from? Haymitch or Blight?" Cami asked. I handed her the note.
"It doesn't say," I told her. It was kind of odd. The note had no signature. On the second day of the games, Haymitch sent me a box of matches so we could start the fire that eventually got Savannah killed, but he had signed the note with an 'H.' "Maybe it's both of them."
"Maybe," But Cami sounded unconvinced.
My arm looked almost normal by the time the Panem anthem played. We got out of the sleeping bags and sat at the entrance of the cave to watch. The only cannon that day had been Victoria's, but we were hoping there would be more. Just as we thought, Victoria's face appeared first. I turned to go back into the cave, but Cameron's voice stopped me.
"We should head to the Cornucopia. The games are coming to a close. Let's wrap things up."
"Let's finish eating, first. It's going to end tonight. You and I both know that." I suggested.
We sat back down in the cave and finished up what was left of our meal.
The rain had mostly let up by the time we finished our food. It was just a light drizzle that was easy to see through. We made it about halfway to the Cornucopia when we saw Caleb on my left, running towards us. I let out a small scream. I fired an arrow, but missed. The swelling was still there.
"Katniss stop!" Cami yelled at me. I realized he wasn't running at us, he was running away from something. Cameron held her axe up as she saw something up ahead. "Run!" she screamed.
We turned and followed Caleb to the Cornucopia. We dropped our packs somewhere along the way and passed Caleb quickly. I scaled the Cornucopia first, then reached down to help Cameron. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Caleb had climbed the Cornucopia and was lying in the fetal position, coughing up blood. When Cameron was safely on top, she raised her axe above her head, but Caleb was more aware than we thought. He grabbed her wrist and pulled the axe away from her, tossing it off the side of the Cornucopia, where a pack of twenty-one dog mutts waited. I fired arrow after arrow at Caleb, and they all stuck into his skin, but he managed to dodge them just enough that none of them would be fatal.
It didn't take long for him to get Cameron in a headlock. He was much bigger and stronger and older, and Cami wasn't used to hand-to-hand combat.
I drew back my bow string and aimed for his eye, like my father taught me to do with animals in the woods. I wasn't nearly a good enough shot to hit it, but I had only been hunting on my own for a little over a year.
"Go ahead," Caleb said, blood pouring from the corners of his mouth. "Take the shot. I'll fall off and take your little buddy with me."
I didn't say anything. I just held the bow steady.
"Can you even hit me?" he taunted. "You aren't that great of a shot. You missed both Golda and Victoria."
"Do it, Katniss," Cameron yelled. "This guy's an idiot. Prove him wrong."
"Yeah, Katniss. Do it." Caleb laughed. "I was never going to make it, anyway."
I realized that Caleb was actually crying. He was scared to die. Blood and tears mingled together as they poured down his cheeks, wiping away dirt. This was a scared eighteen-year-old boy who actually thought he would live.
"You were born to take that title from Finnick Odair. It's what you've been training for, Katniss!" Cameron cried. Caleb tightened his hold around her neck.
"Cami..." I whispered. I would kill Caleb in a heartbeat. But Cameron? Not so much.
"Careers are dangerous, sure. But you know what's even more dangerous? A little girl who trained like a Career for years. Not so she could use it much later in life, whenever she's ready, but because she needed it then to survive. If only I had known that. If only Victoria-" Caleb's voice broke.
"Katniss," Cameron whispered. "Look out for Johanna." She tried to pull herself and Caleb off the Cornucopia, in what would've been heroic, but she failed. Caleb simply hauled her back up and slammed her into the hard metal roof. She screamed in pain and blood pooled around her. I knew then that I had to kill her. Otherwise Caleb would do it much, much more violently, and I couldn't watch a death like that again. I fired my arrow. It went right through Cameron's head, and the cannon sounded immediately afterward.
Caleb smirked. "So you can fire that thing."
I sent another arrow into his eye. And this time he didn't move.
...
When I woke up from my heavy sedation, Haymitch was arguing with some other people I couldn't see from where I lay.
"Relax, Haymitch," I recognized his voice. Finnick Odair. "You know it will be years before anything like that happens. I haven't even started yet."
"When do you start?" another voice asked him. This one was a woman.
"When I'm sixteen. Some of the Capitol pedophiles are ecstatic, but some of them are disgusted, since I'm not a legal adult. A few are even quietly protesting."
The woman agreed. "You'll be the first. That's terrible."
Finnick laughed a little. "Beauty is pain, Cecelia. Beauty is pain."
Haymitch noticed I was awake. "Welcome back, Sweetheart."
The other Victors walked closer to my bed, so I could see them.
"Congratulations, Everdeen. You're a Victor." Finnick said, offering me his hand to shake.
"For what?" I snapped, sitting up. "Do you realize I just killed three kids in two weeks?"
"Well at least you're better than Finnick," a blonde woman said. It took me a second to figure out she was Cashmere Nicholo, Victor from two years ago. "He killed twelve kids in as many days."
"Shut up, Cash," he said playfully. But I could see he was actually hurt by the comment.
"You have an hour before your ceremony," Haymitch pushed Finnick out of the way so he could sit next to me. "The Capitol doctors and your prep team got you looking like a person again. Cinna will be here in a few minutes."
He cleared all the Victors out of my room, including himself. I felt a few tears escape my eyes. I didn't want to be alone.
...
The ceremony that night was dreadful. Caesar asked me questions. I had to pretend to be excited in every one. I had to act like a dumb little girl. I had to pretend that I wasn't heartbroken over losing Lana and Cami and Savannah. The worst part, however, was watching the recaps. Especially the finale, when I killed Cameron and Caleb.
The only good part was the fabulous dress Cinna made for me, so I looked like candlelight, and the delicious food in the ballroom.
I stood next to Haymitch, eating food and signing autographs and taking pictures with dozens of gross Capitol citizens.
Finnick approached me at the end of the night. "Would you like to dance, Katniss?"
I shrugged, but took his hand anyway.
"So you get to stay at home for six months, until the Victory Tour," he said as he twirled me around the room. "If I were you, I would meet some of the other Victors. We're your family now."
"No you aren't. I still have Prim and my mom and Gale. They're my family. You're just some nut cases who are trying to adopt me."
Finnick laughed loudly, causing a few Capitolites to look at us oddly, then swoon and comment about just how cute we were.
"Like it or not, Girl on Fire, you're a nutcase, too now. No one in District 12 will understand." As the dance ended, he pressed a piece of paper into my hand. "There's going to be a phone in your new house. Call me."
I must've looked at him weird, because he laughed again. "Or Cashmere. Or any of the other Victors. Any of us would be happy to talk to you."
I walked back to Haymitch and he laughed at the confused look on my face. "Ready to go, Sweetheart?"
I sighed in relief. "Yes please,"
Edited 11/1/21
I originally wrote this with the 74th tributes, but changed them so they were different, but the story line was pretty much the same. I want to use the normal tributes later on!