Hey guys, this is a chapter from my original fanfic, You're Still an Innocent. I decided I liked this take of the 69th Hunger Games better than one written from Katniss or Finnick's POV. This chapter introduces a new major character, Zahra. For readers returning from my OG fanfic, this book will hopefully extend farther than You're Still and Innocent did, so keep that in mind as you read this chapter, and know that Zahra will actually be a decent character this time around.

Also, I forgot to do shout-outs last chapter, so here they are.

Thanks to:

Sparky She-Demon (Thanks for always reviewing ;))

Anonymous Guest Reviewer Who Read You're Still An Innocent (you're amazing if you've stuck with me this long)

Anonymous Guest Reviewer (no ur 10/10 fantastic)

Brookeyy14 (I'm pretty sure you were one of my regular readers for Innocent, four YEARS ago)

ReadBooksWriteThings (your reviews are awesome)

Interlude: Zahra Avlis (69th Hunger Games)

Zahra POV

When I was little, I had a best friend named Aster Rosnam. We both had younger siblings. I had a little brother named Brom, who was five years younger. She had a little sister named Lydia, who was three years younger. When her mom got cancer and her father was killed in a factory accident, we promised each other that if anything happened to the other, we would take care of the younger sibling.

We were at school one day, when a mentally unstable student started a fire. Most everyone evacuated safely, but not Aster. We were in class together, and I grabbed her hand once we heard the fire alarm ringing. We began running toward the exit, not listening to what our teacher was saying about walking nicely to the entrance, to avoid causing an accident. We stood in with the other children watching flames lick up the side of the building. I didn't hear it, but Aster did. The teacher of the younger children, the eight to ten year olds, whispered that they were missing Lydia Rosnam.

I watched Aster run into the building before anyone could catch her. My teacher held me back as I screamed for her to come back. Not too long after, we watched Lydia climb out of the window, dragging her sister behind her, crying desperately. Aster was burned badly, and struggled to move. The teachers brought her to the apothecary, the closets our district got to a hospital, and she lived for a few days, but eventually she passed away.

Lydia was sent to the orphanage, and I was powerless to stop it. But two years later, when I was sixteen and she was twelve, I received permission from the mayor, who knew me well, to take over custody of Lydia, as I was a responsible adult at sixteen.

"Lydia Rosnam!" Aemelia, District 8's escort announces as she reads the little slip of paper in her hand. No. I think. I lost Aster. I will not lose Lydia, too.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I yell, keeping my voice even. I can not let the Capitol, the other districts, or anybody learn of my attachment to Lydia. That is my weakness, and I must keep it guarded at all costs.

"Zahra!" Lydia wails. "Zahra you can't do this to me. Please!" She latched on to me, her little twelve year old fingers digging into my arms.

"I made a promise, Lyds. I can't let anything bad happen to you." I say, pushing her off me. I made my way up to the stage, and Aemelia stared at me in shock. It wasn't too rare for District 8 to have volunteers. We weren't nearly as weak as, say, District 12 or District 6, but it was still out of the ordinary.

Aemelia recovered from her shock enough to carry on with the Reaping. The male tribute's name was Weft MacDonald, a tall, thin boy with a little bit of muscle.

I sit in my room, staring up at the ceiling. We had arrived at the Capitol a few hours ago, and just got back from the tribute parade. Laying there on my bed in my comfy pajamas, I begin to feel the first bought of homesickness.

"Zahra, dear, you have a visitor," Aemelia calls, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Tell them to go away," I respond, wiping tears from my eyes, knowing very well that they would NOT be going away

I hear Aemelia murmur to whoever was there.

"Zahra? This is Katniss Everdeen," A low, slightly raspy voice calls through the door. "I just wanted to talk to you, see how you were doing. You've made quite an impression on me and some of the other Victors. I'm really sorry that this happened to you, but wallowing in self pity won't help anything."

I hesitate. She really wasn't sugar coating anything. But I respect that, so I said, "It's open."

Katniss enters and sits on my bed, like she owns the place. Not waiting for any invitation or anything.

"Oh, hey," I say, shocked.

"If you don't mind me asking," Katniss begins. "Do you know that girl you volunteered for? Or are you in it for the glory? You didn't seem too attached, but she was hanging on you like a lifeline."

"That was Lydia. I was best friends with her sister when we were young, and now I mean to protect her with my life."

"What do you mean you were best friends?"

"She died two years ago in a fire. She made it out with me, but ran back in for Lydia. Lydia made it, but not Aster."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. There's nothing anyone could have done to save her. Well, the teachers, if they were paying attention could have saved both Lydia and Aster, but they weren't. No one even cared when she died, they just carried on with their lives, like Aster was never even there." I look down, blinking back tears that threaten to fall. Katniss places her hand over both of mine, folded neatly in my lap, but says nothing.

"Thanks for not telling me 'it's gonna be fine'."

Katniss laughs without humor.

"Those are just lies people will tell you to make you feel good about yourself. Thing is, as soon as you step onto that reaping stage, nothing is ever fine again."

"Even when you win? Things aren't fine then?" I ask.

"No. Each year, even if you aren't a mentor, they still drag you back to the Capitol to showcase your life in front of millions of people. Your private life becomes theirs. And no one will possibly be able to understand your pain, except for a fellow Victor."

"Is that why you hang around Finnick Odair so much?"

She nods. "He's the closest to my age. He's only two years older then me, and we really do care about each other. I'm closer to him than I ever was to my friends in District 12."

Huh, I think. Finniss? Katnick? Everdair? Odeen? Which one would it be?

"I like you, Zahra," Katniss tells me. "I want you to win and make it back home to your sister,"

I gape at her, surprised. "What- But what about your tributes?"

"After mentoring for a few years, like I have, you begin to learn when to get attached to a tribute and how to tell when to stay far away, in order to keep your sanity intact. Yes, I will still try to help my tributes as much as I can. I owe that to their families. I might not be able to be, Zahra, but if I could, I'd bet on you,"

I am standing on my pedestal around the cornucopia, taking in the scene in front of me. I had made no alliances, so looking around the desert I knew I would have to choose my items carefully.

Once the gong goes off, I sprint forward, confident that I am faster than the majority of tributes. I scoop up a green backpack and seeing as not many tributes have made it to where I am, I decide to run forward a few more feet, to where I can see a set of knives. I suppose that was my first mistake, as The girl from seven jumps in front of me. I am not a knife thrower. I did a little bit in training, so I at least know how to throw a knife, but when I throw one and nail the District 7 girl in the neck, that is luck in its purest form. I retrieve the knife and run to the rocky side of the dry arena. The arena is split into two sections, with the Cornucopia being the separation line. The one side is a desert, completely open so you can see everyone. That's where the Careers will probably set up camp. It is also home to these giant lizard mutts that I want to stay far away from, especially after watching Britt's games last year. The other side is filled with large boulders and caves, and I assume that's where most of the tributes will hide out. I do the same. I find a cave reasonably close to the Cornucopia and sort through my pack.

A full, half gallon water bottle.

A long rope.

A foam camping mat.

A roll of bandages.

Some sort of antibiotic cream.

A box of matches.

And food. Dried fruit and beef jerky.

I count the cannons as they go off. Eleven. That night, I poke my head out of the cave to watch the faces appear in the sky. Both tributes from 3, 5, and 6, the girl from 7, both from 9, the boy from 10, the girl from 11, and the boy from 12. That means there are still all six Careers, the boy from my district, the boy from 7, the boy from 11, and the girl from 12.

I feel myself shiver. It got cold incredibly fast. When the sun was out, it was intensely hot, but now that it was night, it must be below freezing temperature. I shrug, because there is nothing I can do about it. I eat a piece of fruit in order to preserve what little I have, take a few sips of water to cleanse my dry throat, and decide it would be too risky to build a fire. Instead, I light a match and find a long, flat rock. I hold the match close to the rock and drop it when the flame gets close to my fingers. I repeat this several times, not worried about wasting matches, since I have a box of two hundred, desperately trying to heat up the stone enough to provide some warmth. Eventually, I settled with the little warmth I had, and laid on the rock, my head propped up on my pack and my hand curled around a knife.

Interlude: Zahra Avlis, Part 2

I wake to the sound of a parachute. It's still dark out, and I sum up that it must be the next morning, because you can't get gifts from sponsors until day two.

I open the silver package, and find a black sleeping bag. I smile with relief. I had developed a terrible cold from last night and am not looking forward to another night exposed to the drastic temperature.

I hear footsteps outside my cave and I tighten my grip around my knife. When I see two pairs of feet, I pull out a shorter knife from my backpack. I throw the longer one first, wounding the first person, and did the same to the second with my short knife. I crawled out of my cave. Both tributes are lying on their backs, screaming. I pull the knives from their legs and slit their throats. Two identical cannons went off, one right after the other.

I turn over the tributes and scream myself, immediately covering my mouth, because I recognize both of them.

The girl was from District 12. Katniss's tribute.

But the boy was once Weft MacDonald. I killed my own district partner

"I'm so, so sorry," I whisper, staring into his lifeless eyes.

I search him, finding only a throwing axe. The girl had a bit of food, which I took and stored in my pack.

In the sky that night are the boy from District 1, the boy from 7, Weft, the girl from 10, the boy from 11, and the girl from District 12. That means all that's left are the Career pack

I wake to a scream. It sounds pretty far off, so I choose to ignore it. Until I smell burning flesh. I desperately begin to pack up my bag, and grab a knife and decide to investigate. I see a lizard mutt, writhing on the ground, coated in flames. The I see a ball of fire fly straight over my head, drawling me out of my cave before I even had time to finish packing my gear.

By the time the fire is extinguished, I am in a new cave. I dump the contents of my backpack on the ground. I'm missing my rope, my medicine and bandages, and my food. I guess I'll have to get more. Somehow…

The next morning, I fully developed a plan. I begin walking to the Cornucopia. When I get there, I see the Careers crowded around a fire. It's just the girl from 1, both from 2, and the boy from 4. I guess they lost the girl from DIstrict 4 in the fire. I throw a smaller rock as far as I can and the four of them look up at the sound.

"It's her!" Whispers the girl from District 1. "It has to be her. Eight!"

The boy from District 1, the leader of the pack, stands up, and the rest follow his lead, walking in the direction of the noise, not bothering to leave a guard, since we are the only ones left.

"Works every time." I mutter. I run to the Cornucopia, grabbing as much food as I can. On my way back, I see the girl from 1 and the boy from 2, on their way back to their camp.

"She's over here!" The girl shouts. I silence her quickly with a knife to the throat, and then send another one at her male counterpart. I miss, and it hits his calf instead, but it still sends him stumbling back in pain. I charge at him with another knife, finishing the job.

One more cannon goes off, so I assume the two remaining Careers either turned on each other, or were attacked by lizards.

I sit at the mouth of my cave, watching the projection in the sky. The girl from 1, both from 2. The boy from 4 is still out there somewhere.

A lizard jumps at me, and I take off running in the direction of the Cornucopia, the lizards chasing after me the whole way. I climb up the large horn and see 4 already there, fighting off two mutts. He slices of the head of one with his sword, then comes over to help me finish off mine, since I am definitely the weaker fighter. The lizard turns, swinging his giant tail as 4 lands a fatal blow in his belly. I jump over the tail, but the boy didn't see it coming, and I didn't warn him. I watch as he tumbles off the side of the Cornucopia, into the waiting mouth of the third mutt.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Victor of the 69th Hunger Games-Zahra Avlis of District 7!"