#Amber#
The air was murky, as always in District 12. Like in District 13. But there was no District 13, at least not after the bombing. Most people stayed in their desolate homes in the mornings. The sun was always like a raw egg. Most people were tired. Hungry. Starved. Filthy. All of District 12 reeked of hardship.
“Katniss?” A sleepy but golden head poked out from beneath the covers of the derelict cot.
“Prim!” Katniss jumped. She assumed that Prim must have gotten nightmares again. She always had them, after their father had…been crushed in a mine. Prim extended a white, shivering hand out to Katniss.
“What are you going to do?” Katniss ruffled her sister’s golden pelt.
“I’m going into the woods for a while, little duck.” Prim smiled up at her sister when she heard the friendly name that her father had proclaimed.
Katniss went over to the closet door. There, a woollen hunting jacket, resting among some ragged work clothes. Her hand quivering, Katniss pulled the warm garment over her thin, bony body. She pulled on her leather boots and was just about to go when “Please come back soon! They’ll host the reaping and I don’t want you to be discovered under the fence,” Prim was genuinely pleading.
Katniss smiled. “I’ll come back soon, little duck. I always do.”
Katniss ran out into the sunshine. Rays of watery heat extended out onto her tanned skin. The fence. There it was, still, silent. Katniss listened intently. No sign of the electric buzz of warning. She wriggled through the tiny gap between the ground and the bottom wire.
Her feet carried her through thickets of underbrush, Katniss came into view of the clearing. Birds sang merrily a tune that was only natural to those of kind nature. The Spring air brought whiffs of crisp mint in its winds.
The clearing was hidden, a perfect hunting spot.
The bow and arrows were easily recovered. Katniss knew that deer was close, there! Her hand levelled the bow to shoot, and her brow creased with concentration.
Breath, pull back. Breath, pull back. Breath, pull back.
Breath, pull back, aim, fire!
“Catnip!”
#Bessie#
Gale emerged from the woods smiling.
“Look what I caught.” He held up a small loaf of bread with an arrow protruding from it. “Cost me a squirrel.”
Katniss laughed and stuck her hand in her pocket, “Wait, Prim left us some cheese! We would have a real feast!”
Suddenly, the whole demeanour of Gale changed. It was like a shadow had passed over his face.
“Katniss…”
Gale rarely called Katniss by her real name. Catnip had grown to be an inside joke between the two and it was in solemn situations where Gale used ‘Katniss’. The fresh Spring air was gone now and the heat which had once been there had transmuted into an icy cold.
“Prim is gone. Your sister is gone.”
Katniss blinked and raised her eyebrow. “Gone?”
“She isn’t coming back…”
Suddenly District 12 began to crumble and then, she was in the Capitol. Why was she in the Capitol?
The white marble buildings began to pepper to ashes and crack. What was happening? Planes had risen, its goal to destroy everything left. The Capitalists screamed and cowered but in the blaze, Prim was desperately trying to help the injured kids. Finally, she looked up at Katniss, her eyes frozen with shock as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Gale pulled her back as she tried to rush forwards, the sharp odour stinging her eyes and poisoning her lungs.
“Prim! Let me go, Gale! I promised I would always be back for her! I promised I would always do!” But it was no use as Katniss watched helplessly, her sister’s lips moving as if trying to say something before the blast took her. When she turned back to Gale, he was dissolving. The whole world was dissolving.
Then another setting appeared, this time settling in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games arena. Gale was also gone and in his place was…the president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow. The bloodied bodies of… the baker’s son Peeta?, Katniss’s mother, and everyone she cared for, dead at his feet. Snow turned to face Katniss and laughed. Blood spewing from his mouth and whispering his final words, ghostly and haunting.
“Ms Everdeen. It is the things we love the most that destroy us.” Before Katniss rose her arrow and killed him.
But it was too late. It always was too late as malicious laughter rang across the arena.
They were suddenly decorated by the bodies of many people who Katniss had witnessed die. Her father’s mangled, a little girl covered in flowers, the bodies of many people who somehow Katniss knew, was dead because of her.
“Katniss…”
“Katniss.”
“KATNISS! Wake up!”
She sat up with a start in…no, not the arena. It was a dimly lit, forlorn room with darkness only for company. A flash of information ran through her. The Capitol had been defeated. Alma Coin was president. Snow was dead. But so was her lovely sister. Panem was dying because of Coin. The world that she had known was falling apart. Then there was blackness as everything disappeared. The heat and fragrance of the Spring air returned.
#Amber#
Katniss shook herself. She had been too shaken to realize that she had been dreaming. A dream inside a dream. She was still in the forest. Gale was still beside her. No. She knew what would happen and she would prevent it.
They stood beside each other. Not one of them spoke.
“I guess it’s to hunting supper for this afternoon,” Gale broke the silence.
Katniss nodded.
“Perhaps… perhaps we could run away.”
The statement was so abrupt that Katniss started at the uncertainty.
“But our families-”
Gale nodded “I knew you were going to say that.”
The duet got up from the shade of the oak tree. They went deep into the forest, without any disruption.
Soon, the baker, butcher and florist had all enough meat for a whole week.
~&~
“There!” Katniss stood back to admire her handiwork. Prim was suited up in a characteristic, fluffy blue gown, the only extravagance in her wardrobe.
“Now you look like a dear, little duck!”
Prim smiled at her sister.
Just then, Katniss’s mother entered the rundown living room with the crackly, old TV.
“Here, I think you would do this more justice than I ever could.” Eliza, always a doting mother even in hard times, presented Katniss with a navy blue -and-white-checkered frock.
“But it was from your childhood,” Katniss whispered, taking in the folds of silk and crystalline blue. It had been from Eliza’s childhood when District 12 wasn’t so forlorn.
Outside, the sun had risen to its highest peak, smiling upon the pedestrians filing along each District’s avenues. In District 12, Ellie Trinket was hosting a strange, but a selective event: The Reaping.
-————–————————–————————————————-———–———————————————-—
#Bessie#
The event was held by the Capitol and chosen two children, a boy, and a girl to go to the Capitol. No one knew what happened there but they almost never come back. Expect for Haymitch, a drunk man Katniss usually spotted buying white liquor. After he came back, he seemed traumatized by something but suddenly became rich. He somehow moved into the houses in “Victor Village’, a restricted area for some ‘victors’ apparently. Victors of what?
“May everyone meet in the square for the event. Children between the ages of 12-18 will have their names entered. Once when you are twelve, twice when you are thirteen and so on. As an addition, cash would be given for more entries. It is mandatory for every child to enter their name based on their age requirements. We will choose a boy and girl to send to the Capitol. The winner would receive immense wealth and power that the Capitol generously gave.”
Winner of what? Then she flashed back to her dream with now seems like it was in another life.
Distant and never leaving.
The arena. The Hunger Games? She knew the name but couldn’t remember what it was about. Somehow, Katniss had a dark dread that she shouldn’t go. But the offer was irresistible to most. Life in District 12 was hard after the Rebellion. As punishment, the Capitol took away the luxuries and everyone struggled with money. Katniss knew they didn’t have enough to last very long. She decided she would enter her name more times but she wouldn’t allow Prim to do it. She still had a feeling of foreboding.
They arrived at the square in their best clothes. Katniss noticed in shock that some people were being led by peacemakers which was just the modern word for ‘police’. Some people were even being dragged out of their homes. Something wasn’t right.
Why couldn’t she remember anything about her dream?
#Amber#
“Welcome to the 57th Hunger Games!” Ellie was smiling an over-candied smile.
“May the odds be forever in your favor!”
The crowd of people shifted. Katniss felt Prim shiver beside her.
“It’s okay Prim. It’s okay.”
She eased her sister’s quivering arm to her side so that Prim would be connected to her.
Back on the stage, Ellie boomed, “Ladies first.”
A silence that was as thin as silk yet as smothering as heat seeped into the crowd. Ellie reached for the Reaping bowl. Every breath was strained as Ellie announced the doomed tribute.
“Prim Everdeen, welcome!”
A shockwave of unrealness froze Katniss’s body. She shielded Prim from the searching crowd, but soon, her sister had been spotted and pushed to the front. A path curved between the life-forms of the audience.
Prim walked steadily along, her lip quivering.
Katniss burst towards the stage and her sister.
“I volunteer!” It burst out of her like any such fireball would penetrate the crust of life.
Ellie Trinket nodded, “Welcome, Katniss Everdeen!”
Prim gripped Katniss’s body, not letting go. Gale emerged from the crowd and gently pried Prim from her sister.
“Take her home!” Katniss intoned.
The crowd shifted. All hands were raised in a salute.
You were a good person. Auravuer.
Katniss stood stock still on the stage, dreading the moment of the other tribute’s declaration.
“Peeta Mellark, the second tribute from district twelve.”
#Bessie#
Katniss still felt uneasy though. And as she looked back again, she realized she was in the moment where the crowd had saluted her. The boy’s name hadn’t been called yet.
Was it deja vu?
She felt the memory had been so distant yet familiar, it was as if it was from a different life. Now, instead of saluting, the crowd looked on with confusion.
Why was Katniss volunteering?
She was embarrassed and wanted to run back but something stopped her. Something wasn’t right. It was a terrible feeling that made Katniss feel chilled even amidst the basking heat. She had felt that way the day when her father had left for work and was killed by the blast. She wanted to stop her father then but felt that it was only childlike fear. If only she had…
But Katniss had learned too many times that regret didn’t solve anything. She wanted to save her sister and prevent her from losing someone again.
“Peeta Mellark, the second tribute from district twelve.” When she saw the boy approaching, she knew him as the baker’s son. She had never really met him before as he was from Town. This time, a flash, a fragment of memory from her dream appeared and Peeta had been dead under the President. Then it was him handing her burnt bread when she had been starving when her father had died.
But that never had happened.
He had never given her the bread.
Her mother had found a job after her father’s passing.
So why was this so vivid in her memories?
More scenes. Explosion, uprisings, kids fighting to the death in what she had known, unconsciously, to be the ‘Hunger Games. A woman with perfectly trimmed white hair which she knew as ‘Alma Coin’ who was the new president of Panem. She turned every single district against each other and manipulated everyone. Her sister dying in a blast, disappearing like her father.
NO! That can’t happen. She must save Prim. She must rid Coin and stop the Games. She must prevent everything from happening. And she must remember her dream again. She just needed time to piece it together.
But it wasn’t the time. Peacekeepers led Katniss and Peeta away, into the darkness of the Capitol building.
Katniss felt she did the right thing, but as she entered the eerie gloom, she felt that her sister still wasn’t safe.
#Amber#
The air inside the room was still, quiet.
Prim. Katniss stared at the Mockingjay pin in her hand.
“Catnip,” Those grey eyes, Gale’s eyes, Peeta’s reassuring face.
Two, whom she might never see again, and one, her friend yet her forced enemy. The recollection of Prim’s worried face, Gale’s embrace, and Peeta’s troubled expression left Katniss in a daze.
Soon, one of them would be dead. It was her or Peeta. Her or Peeta.
She could not do the thing that she might have done if Peeta hadn’t given her the bread. He had been kind, too kind for a stone to be in her heart. In fact, she felt the exact opposite.
There was no way she could choose. Yet.. she knew in her heart that she would never win. He would. But she would go down, not fighting him, but defending him.
The storm in her soul made Katniss enraged. No. She could not tolerate it anymore.
The people she loved, all pitted against her or ket away from her. She raised her fist to the wall and punched it. The pain was a relief.
The Peacekeepers came in.
They escorted her away. Away from the only friendly place she knew.
#Bessie#
Katniss was escorted into the train station and into the train. It was decorated luxuriously with polished wood, velvet, and silk. It was also piled with snacks.
Tiny finger cakes, fragrant and delicate, appetizers that blossomed with spice and exotic drink that would coat the inside of your mouth with sweetness and lusciousness which would tingle and fizzle your tongue. Although she had been hungry, the bright arrays of color made Katniss sick.
The whole room was enhanced with a sickly rosy smell that made Katniss even more nauseous. Geez, what was it like in the Capitol? Peeta looked mesmerized by everything and was excitedly asking Effie things like, “When will we arrive in the Capitol”, “Is the Capitol like this too?” and “I wish I could be here forever!” Effie nodded along enthusiastically. If only he knew.
Katniss walked slowly, the perimeter of the room, and saw herself, in the memory, in the room. The unexpected feeling of dread washed through her as flickers of the ‘Hunger Games’ rippled in her mind. Maybe it was a dumb dream after all. What if she was worried for nothing? Maybe you would go to the Capitol and you would take tests and the winner gets to go back to the districts bringing wealth and prosperity with them.
But why did everyone who goes back seem traumatized?
A voice whispered in the back of her mind. Why?
Because they were so pressured. Of course.
Still, Katniss felt uneasy again looking from the barred windows of the train as the world whizzed by.
What will happen to me?
——
“And I will show you to your rooms,” Effie said ecstatically with the high-toned Capitol accent. “A bell will ring for dinner. There’s something very important for you two to discuss with your mentor.”
“Mentor?” Peeta asked quizzically.
“Haymitch. The Drunk, although a piece of advice, don’t call him that again. He will be very important in your life from now on.”
Peeta looked as if he wanted to ask more but held back. Haymitch, one of the people who made it back to District 12.
Maybe he would be able to give me an answer to my questions. Katniss pondered.
——-
It seemed as if time stopped. Katniss sat in her room, on the cold floor, hearing her heartbeats as company. Then, the bell broke the eerie silence.
Finally.
#Johnny#
Haymitch was near, going to accompany them before the Games begin. Peeta was outside, about to meet Haymitch the drunk (must not be mentioned). Katniss was still in her bedroom, her heart beating to break the lingering silence of her insides. The bell had made her heart nearly stop. She sat on her bed, the train still whirring and sprinting on the tracks. She decided to follow Peeta, to the next carriage on the train. Effie was by the other side of the carriage. Katniss entered the other carriage and found Haymitch (with another glass of beer) and Peeta. They were discussing how to survive. She joined them. She sat next to Peeta. She didn’t want to experience Haymitch’s drunk sensation.
“Is there any advice to win the Hunger Games?” Katniss asked. She wanted to ask, although Haymitch was drunk. She knew that at least Haymitch was the only victor from District 12 that’s still alive.
“I’ll give you a piece of advice.” offered Haymitch.”Stay alive.” He threw himself onto his chair and incessantly chortled at his little joke. Maybe it was that Haymitch was too drunk to even give her a piece of trusted advice that would work. She gave up asking. “Now, what can you do in terms of survival and stealth?” Katniss asked herself this question, considered it, then thought hard. She couldn’t do much. She thought her hunting skills were not bad, just average.
“I don’t know what I can do…” Katniss managed to say before Peeta butted in:
“She is an amazing hunter. She can set up traps and when she shoots prey, she doesn’t shoot them in the heart, she shoots them in the eye.” He set up some concerns about Katniss, but he knew that he didn’t have many fighting abilities that were useful, or even worth trying.
“And you Peeta,” asked Haymitch, still too drunk to do much. Peeta shook his head. Only knowing much about bread, he was hopeless. But Katniss showed him what he was.
“He can lift up 500g bags of flour for a long distance at the bakery. That might become useful in the training centre” remarked Katniss, who seemed to like Peeta ever since he tossed her the bread after suffering a beating as well.
Haymitch nodded. Katniss wanted to show her knife skills. While a rather dizzy Haymitch reaches out for the jam, Katniss pulls out a knife and stops Haymitch from having it. That paused time. Katniss saw that they were near the Capitol, just got a few more hours. She left her seat. Haymitch, recovering from his period of being drunk, went back to the bar to get another beverage for himself. Peeta also left.
They would go to the training centre later, after settling down into the Capitol. Later.
Later…
———-
#Amber#
Katniss felt her hair being brushed back. The pain of tweezers removing her leg hair was almost unbearable, but she held onto reality. Cinna said, “Just one more…”
Katniss sighed. Cinna wasn’t bad, it was his hairdressers that were painfully into fashion. So much that she was going to be burning in the opening ceremony. Literally. And yet… she remembered the way that the lengthy leather coal suit-up hat fitted perfectly, how the flames had licked comfortably against her back and chest. This time was no different.
Her Prep-team began gushing over her.
“You will look absolutely fabulous!’ Octavia began to chatter.
~&~
It was only after being suited up did Katniss meet Peeta. They were both in sleek, black uniforms. Peeta shifted uncomfortably. His air of sadness had vanished, replaced with worry.
“I guess it’s just us now.” The remark was quiet.
“I guess.” Katniss noded.
♣ℜ♠
Their hands were gripped together, tight. Katniss felt the tight squeeze of Peeta’s hand against hers. They were the last to enter the stadium. Somehow, the squeeze seemed to be more than reassurance.
The crowd roared in approval as the flames burst up behind Peeta and Katniss.
“Welcome to the Hunger Games! Each contestant will soon be tested and scored out of 12. Be ready…” President Snow croaked in the agonizing voice of a person who has other things to do other than the subject at hand, which he didn’t. President Snow liked a good reputation. What he didn’t like was the Katniss girl and Peeta.
He was not going to make it easy for them.
#Bessie#
President Snow stepped off the podium. The flickering images of the two District 12 tributes lingered in his mind. He took the handkerchief and coughed, smelling the too familiar reek of blood.
Stuffing the stained cloth back in his suit, his assistant suddenly came over.
“President, after the chariots, we have collected the tokens of each tribute. They will be taken into inspection soon.”
Snow didn’t really care about the tokens. They didn’t represent anything about the districts to him. Although it was nice to have something from home to hold onto when he was a peacekeeper… That didn’t really matter. It was the present and future Snow and dedicated himself to, rather than the past, a weakness in many people. A flash of gold caught his eye and when he looked closer, it was the golden Mockingjay.
How peculiar, he mused and thought about the glowing fires of District 12. The show really isn’t over until the Mockingjay sings.
“An interesting little creature.”
His assistant was slightly surprised. After all, it was Snow who led a team to capture and kill almost all of the Mockingjays in District 12.
“Really sir? The pin might prove as an advantage.”
“Don’t bother with that. I approve it, a quite lovely piece.”
The assistant was reluctant but did as Snow ordered and put aside the pin. The remaining light from the parade glimmered off the Mockingjay as Snow picked it up. It felt so alive.
It had only been a few days after Snow had woken up before his execution and discovered he was in the past.
Rebels. He laid his hand on the spot where the arrow would have supposedly hit. Then, he found himself at the 74th Hunger Games. It was almost like a game of fate and Snow hated Games.
He hadn’t dropped those bombs on the Capitol. It had been Coin. But he had never gotten a chance to explain.
Regret, another thing I don’t mind living without. Yes, Snow had regretted many things but this time, it was going to be different. Looking out, over the skyline of the Capitol, Snow felt himself smile. The future was going to change.
“You fought very hard in the Games, Miss Everdeen. But they were just Games.”
#Johnny#
There was still more to achieve before the actual arena fight or should I say survival as fighting was against the rules. Katniss had no idea what the arena would be like. She thought about that for a few minutes before a faint encouraging cry was heard in her head.
“Go, be brave and survive Catnip.” Gale’s voice made Katniss miss and think about District 12 before entering and showing the Gamemakers her skill. Recently, Katniss loved to get her hands on her bow, her favourite weapon to use. When she went to the weapon stand, to her delight (and dismay) an iron bow with strong metal arrows was in sight. A target with a copy of an actual man was in sight. She started to get her hands on her bow, then called the Gamemakers, who were more interested in talking about the weather rather than about her.
“Ahem.” The Gamemakers took a glance at Katniss. Katniss aimed her bow at the target. The bow was nothing like what her dad had handcrafted for her. She missed the body completely. The Gamemakers laughed and then focused on their own subject then. Katniss started shooting her bow constantly until she got used to the bow. Then she managed to land bullseye into the dummy’s heart. The Gamemakers ignored her fully. She saw an apple near one of the dinners that they were having. She aimed her bow, then shot the apple right onto the wall. Silence. She took a bow and left. She was sure she might get a five or six. That’s what upset her when she got back. She walked to have a bit of a rest. Later, she would have not regretted what she has done. Later something will happen.
Something.
#Amber#
The words escaped her mouth before she could think.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Out in the hall, Haymitch, Ellie, and Peeta were waiting for her.
~$~
“What’d you do?” Haymitch’s drunk voice gurgled repulsively.
“Shot an arrow at an apple in the Game-keeper stand.”
Everyone stared.
“What?”
Katniss threw up her hands.
“They’ll give you a one, Katniss, don’t you realize-” Ellie broke off when she saw the blank television screen flickering to the announcement desk.
“So here are the scores for our tributes!
District one:
Glimmer Shingle, with a score of eight, and Michael Plumbly with a score of five.
District two:
Lucy Wilson, with a score of seven. Kimberley Lakson with a score of ten.
District four…
District five…
District six…
District seven…
District eight…
District nine…
District ten…
District eleven…
And, finally, District twelve:
Peeta Oakly, with a score of nine, and Katniss Everdeen with a score of twelve.
Now, back to the newsdesk.”
The television screen flickered black.
Silence.
Then, “Katniss! That was spectacular!” Ellie congratulated.
“Wonderful,” Haymitch admitted drily.
Peeta grinned, repeating “Bravo!”
Katniss only sat there, too shocked to speak.
They’ve strung you up, like a piece of laundry.
Katniss shivered.
#Bessie#
Numb, Katniss decided to go back to her room. No matter how high she turned the room temperature to, she still felt herself shivering.
Twelve! It was supposed to be eleven!
The dream. It specially wrote out eleven. So how could it be? Katniss was sure that had been the Quartering Quell. The 75th Hunger Games where she got a twelve. Did she knowing the future mess it up? Or was she slowly losing her mind? Maybe it really was just a dream.
Katniss tucked herself in and leaned against the pillows. A coldness surrounded her and she dug her feet into the mattresses.
One more day. Then I would be gone.
Into the arena. A place where every year, 23 tributes would vanish forever. They would never be able to go back to their family. Dying afraid and with no one by their side, fate was cruel.
Where would I end up? The future was changing. Katniss felt like she had no control. She felt as if her whole destiny was being played with.
Sinking into a restless sleep, she was immersed in darkness.
Katniss wandered, for a long time, in the woods, not knowing where she was going. She was running from something. Running from what? Then her breath caught as she saw Prim, her sister, in front of her. The moment she reached out, Prim started to disintegrate. Her voice was stuck in her throat, and the more Katniss struggled, the weaker she felt herself becoming.
No! She struggled one last time as she watched Prim disappear forever.
“I’m sorry.”
Before she felt herself getting lighter, as she slipped away from consciousness again.
—–
The metallic taste of blood woke Katniss up. She must have bitten her lips during her nightmare.
Going to the bathroom, she washed her mouth and cleaned the traces of crimson from her face. It was still dark outside, a mix of deep purple, magenta, and blue. Even the Capitol parties had died out. A strange, eeriness had devoured the city. Besides herself, she could see no one else, and she sensed that she was utterly alone.
It was not true, of course.
Turning to shut the curtains, a glint of gold had caught her eye.
The Mockingjay pin.
It laid calmly on her nightstand, a foreign feeling. Although Katniss knew what it was, she also couldn’t recognize it too. It felt so strange, a glowing golden aura around it. She walked over and picked it up, examining the life-like bird.
Its wings were slightly perched, about to take flight at the lightest breeze. But now, in the dim light of her room, it looked as if something, something in the horizon stopped the Mockingjay from taking flight.
Stopped between time.
A flash of image suddenly disrupted her thoughts.
It was a mob of people against peacekeepers holding up a banner painted with the Mockingjay. Her Mockingjay. Fighting, wails, and chaos arose. Something Katniss didn’t want to see. It was an uprising.
The metal tang returned to her mouth as she flung the pin across the room, it’s clanging echoing. Blood gushed from her tongue as she tried to ease the rapid flow. Finally, she gave up and buried herself in her bed again. Staring into the space that had been replaced by darkness, she knew very well that there would be no more sleep.
A rebellion is an act of defying the government, an act that fails. Overthrowing is an act of defying the government, an act that succeeds.
So what could she call it? Somehow, she knew somewhere, someone was building a fire and she was the fuel. There wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.
What would happen now that everything has changed? What would happen to her?
#Johnny#
The odds were really against her. They were not in her favour at all. She rose out of bed. It’s just a dream. She tried to calm herself down. The Mockingjay pin. It made her think of home and what was back there. She started to think about Peeta’s mother giving her the brooch. She thought of Prim and everyone back there. But she couldn’t get the score out of her head. Twelve? She kept thinking of twelve from her dream but she was certain that it was actually eleven, whatever the results say.
What’s going on? She got out of bed and looked around. She knew that she was still at the capital and that she was safe. But something strange was going on. She had to find out. She had to answer that question. What was going on? She had to find out. She opened the door. She did it to her immense surprise.
She had been up all night after the dream! She realised that it was morning. Now, how could she start the day?
“Hello!”
“Oh! sorry!”Katniss stared at Peeta, whose smile was as radiant as a moonbeam in the pitch dark of an unforgivable universe.
And then, their hands were held in each other’s grip.
“She always said you would survive, Katniss. You will be the ray of sunlight.”
Katniss felt Peeta’s hand caress her chocolate hair.
It felt like it belonged there, and more than ever she wished to confess to Peeta. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t She was the betrayer, make no mistake. And she deserved not to be the ray. She would keep him alive, no matter what he thought of her. The Games, they truly were hungry. Hungry for youths’ blood.
-$-
“Katniss!” Ellie’s sharp hoot made Katniss start.
“Do remember to be polite with Cearsar Flickman!’
“Oh, she’ll be just fine being the flame she is.” Haymitch drawled, his voice sounding particularly annoying.
Peeta said,” Just be yourself, Katniss. I’m going for Comedy, what about you?”
“Oh. She’ll be her normal sassy self.” Haymitch’s enraging calm brought Katniss to her extent.
“Everyone, please! I am ok, but someone is trying to forget about it!”
Her words eliciting blank faces from her mentors, Katniss stormed off, Peeta ensuing her.
#Bessie#
“I’m okay!” Katniss said furiously.
“No, you’re not! Katniss, no matter what, they are still our mentors!” Peeta reminded her as she stormed across the hallways. “Katniss, I’m saying you have to feel sorry. At least pull a facade up, making them willing to help you! They are your difference between life or death!”
“They don’t even care about me. Haymitch hates me! He’d rather have me dead. And how do I know this isn’t some plan your plotting to kill me?” The moment the words left her mouth, Katniss regretted it.
Peeta looked shocked for a moment. A wave of emotions seemed to crash over him. Hurt, anger, and sad at the same time. Finally, a slurred voice interrupted the silence.
“That was… harsh,” Haymitch said, drunk, blank of any reaction, and seemed to be studying both of them. Ellie was standing behind with tears in her eyes.
“I-” Katniss began and then, fury replaced her senses. “You planned this all didn’t you!” She screamed at Peeta and shoved him. Peeta fell backward into an urn which shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. A steady stream of blood began to flow from Peeta’s hand as Katniss turned her back, and ran from the hallway.
#Johnny#
“Katniss! Do apologize right this instant!” called Effie, shocked and apprehensive. She worried that Peeta might be meeting his demise so she decided to come over and help with Peeta. But Katniss was too far away to care about Peeta.
“Why should I help?” her mind thought. “I think that he deserved that, behaving in not a nice manner during the interviews and trying to put on a frame that we were love birds. What was he thinking. Surely, I shouldn’t help.” She started to arrive at her room, trying to avoid going into the same elevator as Peeta. Slumping into her bed, she started to regret her move. Maybe she overreacted a little bit too much. She didn’t know if Peeta’s move would actually help but it looked like that it was a distraction and an offer of help in the arena. Katniss had no idea. It was bound to happen.
The interview was the last thing that was seen publicly by the spectators. Just a bit more training would do. The apprehension of the arena was nothing compared to the bare thought of losing a fellow district partner even if the rules would disallow two victors. Katniss knew she needed an ally just like the Careers make allies with themselves. She had to apologize.
#Bessie#
The interview. Katniss needed to reorganize her thoughts.
She stared at the elevator with its glass floors and stared at the training center below, sprawled out like a map. Ok Katniss, you need to go back, apologize, and see if Peeta is alright. She ordered herself. The elevator came to a stop with a melodic click and Katniss stepped off.
Haymitch sat on the couch with his back facing the exit, looking as drunk as always.
“Haymitch, where’s Peeta?” Katniss asked not in the mood for conversation.
“With the healers, obviously. Effie was afraid that the injured hand would be a disadvantage.”
“Oh.”
Haymitch snorted and turned. “You wanted to apologize?”
Katniss ignored him. It was almost annoying how similar she and Haymitch’s thoughts were.
“Effie thought you wouldn’t come back, quite rebellious. For the interview, I have a concept for you.”
“Oh please, do I have a choice?”
“Technically yes, on the terms of survival no. It’s simple really.”
“Then I’m sure all the other tributes thought of it as well.”
“No. Probably not. Do you know how I told you to represent you and Peeta as a team? How you two held hands at the chariot ride?”
“So you want us to work as a team? That’s pretty ironical due to the fact that only one can remain.”
“No, I thought you were usually smarter than this Katniss. I’m thinking of representing you and Peeta as star crossed-lovers. Unrequited love. That always melts the Capitol’s heart.”
#Amber#
Katniss’s mouth went dry.
She stared at Haymitch, speechless.
Then she took flight.
It was like being in the woods again, hunting. She could almost feel Gale at her side. And yet, she was like a bird, swift. Brave. Sad. Sad because of the future to come. Sometimes she hated knowing. Hated knowing that what Haymitch said would become a forced reality.
It was a day later that Katniss visited Peeta in his large room. It was like hers, only the velvet was yellow. He was sitting with his back to the door, injured hand resting on his right knee. Katniss padded softly across to him, quiet.
“Sorry about your hand.”
Peeta turned quickly but sagged when he saw the figure framed by brown hair standing beside him.
“I thought you were Ellie! Really, I don’t mind, it’s just her and the fuss, you know, typical Capitol Ellie.”
“Well, first of all, Ellie’s voice is higher than mine and she is loud. Very loud.”
At that statement, both of them burst into spontaneous laughter.
#Johnny#
That was the first laughter she had ever since going out with Gale. By the way, she started to think about District 12 again. The Mockingjay pin, the symbol of rebellion. The persecution she predicted would be happening. And she thought deeply about Prim. She thought that she made the right choice, to step in instead of Prim. Peeta was still laughing and imagined the interviews being broadcasted to Panem, even to District 13, where he had no idea, was underground and living in secret. Katniss imagined the ongoing fights around the place.
The hand was still bleeding but under all the care given by the gamemakers there (they didn’t care for the people whatsoever. They were a nightmare) was not as much as in the first place. Effie was nowhere to be seen. Haymitch had already left. They had to think about a way to picture the interview. Their perception was limited and they were thinking more than a fully blind person could think for years or decades without stopping. The opportunity to think about it was lost. Katniss missed home.
“Catnip.” The name rang in her ear. Gale and Prim were counting on her. Peeta was thinking about home as well. He just managed to capture the thought of the interviews. He knew that Katniss would win and he would meet his utter torture and demise in the arena. Now, Katniss had to stop the decadent feeling of arriving home and probably in Victor’s Village. This game was unbelievable. Poor Prim and Katniss.
#Bessie#
“You’re going to be dazzling!” Her prep team exclaimed for the hundredth time. “You’re going to steal the show,” they said, blowing a puff off glitter at Katniss. She coughed and waved the sparkles away.
“What even is the dress?”
They looked at each other and pressed a finger to their lips. “I want to tell her!”
“But Cinna said no! It’s a surprise, Katniss darling! I love surprises, don’t you?”
Katniss tried to nod enthusiastically but her mind was elsewhere. She was nervous about the upcoming interview. What if she slipped, what if she made a fool of herself. The interview was like the final hope for Sponsors. And Sponsors were your last hope for survival. Which meant the interview was the final hope for survival.
Katniss clutched her hair more tightly. The sound of her heartbeat seemed to echo around the room.
“Katniss! Don’t do that! We hadn’t even started on curling it yet! Are you trying to be bald?”
Ellie put a hand on her waist and frowned. “Katniss, how about you practice the etiquettes I taught you? Smile big and answer the questions cheerfully.”
She bit back a bitter smile and tried in her best tone, “My name is Katniss Everdeen, yes, it is an honor to be in the Capitol, yes, everything is so brilliant here-”
“I told you to answer the question, cheerfully. That’s sarcasm!”
Katniss was about to protest when the door swung open and Cinna walked in, holding what she could only assume was her dress as it was covered.
“Now, now Katniss, if Ellie could detect sarcasm in there, you know it’s an established fail.”
Ellie gawked at Cinna, obviously not getting his words but Katniss had to hide the hint of a smile that crept up on her face.
“Now that’s a real smile! Of course, we all know that Ellie wants the best for you. Just be you.”
Katniss resided and sighed. “I just don’t know, how. It’s easier than said. And plus, Haymitch told me that I’ll be terrible being myself.” She doesn’t mention anything about Haymitch’s plan, of course.
It’s not me I’m worried about.
It’s the fact that she would have to lie about being star-crossed lovers with Peeta. What the reactions would be at the night of the interview was what she dreaded worst.
“Don’t stress too much on whatever is on your mind, although easier said than done. Close your eyes and open them when I say so.”
“Is it the dress?”
Cinna’s eyes twinkled and smiled. “You’ll see.”
———————
Katniss felt the dress being draped around her and felt the smooth and light base of the gown. She felt it swirl like flames underneath her touch and spun blindly in the silky garment.
Then another layer was added, one much heavier, made from ruffles of transparent fabric. She felt tiny specks were sewn into the layer and adjusted to the current weight.
The last layer was the heaviest, something that almost threw her off balance. Something heavy decorated it and a flowing back layer was added.
Katniss felt her hair being weaved together and her face adorned with the final touches of makeup. With her eyes still close, she twirled around to face where the prep team, Ellie, and Cinna were, which wasn’t easy as the dress was around 40 pounds, and heard shouts of delight and amazement.
“Open your eyes.”
Katniss peeked, just a little, a little nervous and afraid of her appearance. But the person in front of her seemed like a stranger. It was someone so breathtakingly beautiful wearing a gown that seemed almost in another world.
What she saw was a girl with rich, dark brown hair with curls framing her face and an elaborate braid twisted to a bun that was pinned by golden rose shimmering the slightest rosy pink and deepening orange.
Her dress was completely made of jewels and the specks sewn into the fabric of the second layer were tiny crystals that glowed individually which created a dancing flame pattern every time she moved. The jewels reflected back the light, causing flickers of fire and spectrums of different hues to spread before her.
The base was of a pale iridescent fabric with different splotches of blended blue, red, orange, and yellow. The ruffles made it look as if fire was curling up at the edges every time Katniss twirled. Her skin shimmered in the gleaming lights and she realized that tiny crystals that had been sewn in the dress were also added to her hair, but dimmer, creating an enchanting arua around.
With the lights that adorned her every move, even her once rancorous smile was turned into a gift from heaven.
“So what do you think,” Cinna asked, holding the mirror for Katniss.
Breathless, Katniss beamed.
“It’s transcending.”
#Amber#
Her breath catching in her throat, Katniss wondered about how the Capitol knew of the future. Her knuckles were white clenching the letter in her manicured hand.
Dear Miss Everdeen,
It is my priority to state that you will not bring your mockingbird pin into the arena, concerning the fact it shall lead to the demise of President Snow.
Happy Hunger Games,
L. Smithenwood
Peeta gripped her other hand in his fist. He had read the letter over Katniss’s shoulder.
Then his voice came out raspy and quiet.
“We’re trapped back in the past.”
“Yes.” Katniss’s voice was like the quiet whistle of the hollow wind.
“They’ve done it on purpose, to re-create the future death of President Snow, only that he survives!”
Peeta clenched his teeth.
“We are not going to attend the interview. We are going to Snow’s mansion.” The sudden spurt of strength in Katniss’s voice drove her as she pulled Peeta with her along the long corridor.
“Come on.”
They broke out in a run, ducking every now and then to avoid being seen. They were going to make it…
And the pale sunshine burst upon their backs like a welcoming smile.
“Where are you going, children?” A silky sweet voice curled like cold fog into the atmosphere.
Like startled reindeer, the pair turned. Both ran from the pleasant woman standing erect on the threshold of the Hunger Game Encampment.
What they had seen turned their blood cold.
It was the woman in the yellow raincoat.
#Johnny#
“What now?” asked Katniss, severely discouraged.
“To see what you are up to. I know you’re up to mischief. I can see that clearly from your actions.” replied the woman in the yellow raincoat who was still waddling about, her features giving off colours everywhere.
Peeta started to realise that their job wouldn’t be easy. They had to get past her and at the same time, their time was limited and they had to go to the interview. The room was clearly written in elaborate letters. That would be quite a struggle. From what Katniss knew, the way out of the arena would be through the interview stage. Quite a disadvantage.
They went through the doors and away from the woman in the yellow raincoat and they arrived near the stage, the sign hanging right above them:
“ℜight to enter the stage.”
A big worry for Katniss and Peeta was that they didn’t where were the other tributes for the games. Maybe it had already been their turn. District 12 was ready. The whole of Panem was ready for the interview. Maybe District 13 might be watching. That was a certainty that might be hard to answer but it might be. The bombs couldn’t have destroyed all of District 13. It couldn’t have. Katniss had to prepare herself for the interview. There was a slim chance of not taking part. They had to do this.
#Bessie#
President Snow shifted the drink in the crystalline cup, watching it sparkle like tiny beads of gem under the light. With a clung, he set the glass down and stared at the people before him. He paused for a long time, feeling it anxiety that hung in the air.
“So, what do you think is the priority discussion of today’s meeting?”
The people all stared at each other and one cleared his throat. Snow smiled as he recognized the plump Gamemarker, Plutarch Heavensbee.
“President, I think we should talk about the upcoming Hunger Games.”
“Yes, didn’t the District 12 tribute girl shoot an arrow at your head?” Snow asked, turning to Seneca Crane.
“Well, at an apple,” Crane remarked. “It was quite an accurate aim.”
“Near your head. Listen closely.”
Snow surveyed the people before him. All disposable.
“What is hope?”
That question sent a murmur throughout the room. Hope? President Snow had no tolerance for any hints of rebellious actions, and now hope?
“Hope is… the ignition, trust in uncertainty. Why do you think we have the Hunger Games? Why don’t we just round the tributes all up and execute them? That would be easier.”
The silence was heavy in the room before Plutarch coughed and questioned thoughtfully, “Because it was barbaric?”
Snow almost laughed. “You would know better than anyone else. Hope, a little is effective, a lot is dangerous,” he said sharply. “So contain it. How?”
Plutarch coughing looked puzzled. “Isn’t that the purpose of the *cough* Hunger Games?”
Snow narrowed his eyes, the whites of them completely disappearing and turning it almost snake-like. “Yes but, not enough. Traitors are first on the list.”
Everyone stared blankly, visibly confused, but an expression of horror came crashing upon Plutarch’s face.
With one last cough, he hunched over, making a strangled sound, before gasping his last breath.
#Amber#
Red… Yellow raincoat… Thoughts crashed through Katniss’sbrain like tidal waves of anxiety. The wet feeling beside her backbone served a lingering trail of pain. Peeta had removed the bullet, but the blood still poured like the rain on a typical November day.
“Here,” Peeta lifted Katniss into his arms. She felt him running, running, running. But the bounce of her body against his chest did not nauseate her. Funnily enough, it swayed her into unconsciousness.
Peeta’s spine chilled.
It was too simple, no guards, no gunshots, no archers. There had to be something. And her saw it: a trap, set in iron, just as Gale had shown him. A trap for humans.
He sprang over the trap, narrowly missing the snapping clang that sickened his stomach. But he kept on running, leaping. over pits, pitfalls, and the metal hinges that could’ve torn his flesh to shreds.
Soon, he was out of the Hunger Games encampment. He stared into the distance, at the glittering stars that had arisen to welcome the night. His nostrils took in the fresh smell of grass, fresh, un-clipped. The smile that played about his lips did well, for the air had rarely seen a smile. No, never.
-&-
“Olly!”
The young girl in blue overalls ran over from tree to tree. Her blond friend did not appear.
“Olly!”
Still, no response.
Then the missiles came.
Excruciating fear followed Lany Aulmer down to her grave.
-&-
Peeta took his hand away from the stone he had been touching. It was cold. He buried it in a tiny hole in the dirt. A girl had died there. Alone.
#Johnny#
The death was nothing like anything in the arena. The surprising thing was that it was killed during the arrival of thousands of spectators. Katniss was already prepared. She was only waiting for the arena to begin.
Snow was waiting for the big event. What’s going to happen?
#Bessie#
Death wasn’t anyone’s fear. One would simply cease to exist anymore, being nothing at all.
Dying was what was worse. The coldness one would feel as the life drained out their body. Knowing one would never be or do anything again. Never meet their loved ones again, but instead, in the vast, empty arena with no one but your thoughts. It would seem there was all the time in the world to think about your past life, all of the regrets of the past and dreams of the non-existent future.
Katniss braced herself as the woman in the yellow raincoat appeared again, her smile sickly. “Now come, you don’t want to be late don’t you?”
#Amber#
Katniss gasped.
She glugged in the air like it was water.
The stars were the first things that she w=saw. Singing the midnight sky were the stars.
She remembers that further than anything else, other than the ghost girl.
Peeta turned, rising, speaking.
“We’ve got to go. The Capitol isn’t safe”
“Yes.”
At the nauseating awareness of the wound, Katniss felt a cold, deathly stone against her palm.
It fell.
Tumbling.
Tumbling slowly.
Painfully, tumbling.
At last. The image shimmered, shining in the cool darkness of Night.
The moon, an elegant lady swathed in her cloud dress. The ghost of Lany Aulumer was thin, bony. Elegantly dressed. But torn. Torn like a rag doll abandoned by her mistress.
“Olly…”
The voice, quiet, insecurely aware of a world out of this.
The young girl’s hand closed around empty space.
“Who did this?” Katniss reached out a comforting hand towards the girl.
“Snow… Hector Snow… Boy…killed children…”
The words were forced. Pain filled every vowel, every constant of the enunciation. But the girl continued, tone obsolete.
“Katniss…Peeta…kill him…kill Snow…”
The apparition wavered in the buffeting wind. The gale howled, a monster re-gaining lost territory.
“Go.”
The girl disappeared.
Silence reigned.
#Bessie#
Cold shivers ran up Katniss’s spine as she felt the empty space of where the girl used to be. A soft rain started falling, unfurling onto the ground producing a comforting melody as the darkness receded with nothing left.
“Hector… Hector Snow.” Peeta repeated looking puzzled. “Where had I heard that name?”
“It doesn’t matter now,” replied Katniss sharply. “We… we have to kill whoever he is.”
“Olly and Lany, don’t these names sound familiar to you Katniss? It’s as if I knew who they once were but I know for certain that I never met them, but it feels that I have…”
She remained still, racking her brain for clues. Nothing made sense. It was as if trying to solve a puzzle without knowing the result and missing key pieces. Everything was loose and a single mistake could lead to everything they have done so far in vain.
“Let’s solve our own problems first. We need to escape the Hunger Games.”
#Amber#
Then, “Olly and Lany…Olly and Lany Everdeen! My cousins!”
Peeta sat bolt upright.
“They were the District 12 sacrifices of the 45th Hunger Games-and someone killed them before the Games even started.”
Katniss’s mind whirled.
Hector Snow…Hector Snow…Hector Snow…It sounded so familiar.
“We’d better run from here; the director and President-”
Katniss froze in the middle of her words.
“Peeta, exactly what is Snow’s first name?”
Peeta looked at her.
“Hector Snow.” The two sat in silence for a while.
“Do you think we have to kill Snow, again?”
Katniss shrugged. The night air whistled calmly, too perfect. Too serene. To unflawed.
A gunshot rang in the air.
“Let’s go!”
Katniss dragged Peeta with her as she sprinted away from the hollow sound. Two more rang in the distance.
“Olly, and, Lany, were killed in the creek. They ran in there-” Peeta pointed.
The pair skidded to a stop between the creek and a cliff.
The drop was unmeasurable.
“They’ve got reinforcements in the creek…”
“So, down!”
They jumped.
At first, they hovered, suspended by nature’s breath.
Then the fall came.
An inevitable fall.
They fell, like stones in a pond.
They fell, like bricks in a landmine.
They fell like raindrops.
The last thing Katniss remembered was Peeta gripping her hand, the bush beneath them, the river gurgling like a child.
Then, the world was blotted out.
It was like being trapped inside a cube, a tight feeling, trying, trying to get free. Katniss felt like a caged mockingbird, a trapped butterfly under a net. The blackness that drilled a hole into her heartfelt real. But she knew it was a dream. Yet how could she wake up!
The cloak of midnight essence closed in.
#Johnny#
Darkness haunted the night. Katniss was apprehensive about the upcoming events. How can she get up from this imagination she’s currently stuck in at the moment.
“Peeta?” asked Katniss. No reply. The silence was doing its bidding currently. The whole world was covered with jet black ink and she had no idea whatsoever what was going on. No help was in action. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and she suddenly sprang from her bed. That was all.
Where was Hector Snow? Where was he and where was Coronalius Snow as well? Her breast ached. Maybe from the fall. But the apprehension inside her body was tremendous. She just wanted to get her hands on a bow. She wanted to end all at once. She wanted to flee from the arena straight away. But she knew that the boundaries were inescapable.
There was no chance she could flee. She got out of bed, put on her shoes, then tiptoed outside. It was quiet, but what she was doing was risky. The technology would catch her and the hostile Peacekeepers would be keeping an eye out on people. There was no choice. When the time has come, she just had to flee from the weapons. She didn’t want to be stabbed.
Maybe a bow and a couple of arrows would be fine for her while surviving. She had to be careful though. Only the Gamemakers know where it will be set. In general, Katniss was waiting to see if the bow might be out. It was in the training centre. There was a high chance of seeing it in the arena.
Could she get there in time? She was pretty fast in her previous school. She should be fast for the arena at least. Can she do it?
#Bessie#
It was time for the Games to start.
Katniss heard the mechanical whir as she was lifted up onto the podium. The most important moments were at the beginning where even a few seconds headstart could mean the matter between life or death.
As the arena came to view, the circle of tributes positioned themselves, ready to charge when the countdown stopped. Katniss knew the Gamemakers would be out to kill her in any way they could in the arena. Winning the Games would be like trying to beat the Gamemakers at their own game.
They all positioned themselves, ready to fight or flee. The vast and differing terrain of the arena offered both challenge and protection and the large countdown ticked against the blinding golden surface of the Cornucopia.
Katniss tried to steady herself but suddenly one tribute took off their token and threw it at another player’s podium, causing them to explode. It was just before the clock ended, and Katniss stared at the wreckage, paralyzed by the horrifying image. Before she could regain her focus, other players had already started running to grab weapons.
She had missed her only chance, just the time in her past memory. Maybe things had always fated to happen. Using the little time she had left, she grabbed a backpack and sheet of plastic just before the tribute District 9 grabbed it as well. A faint sense of recognition caused Katniss to know that the tribute would be killed soon by Clove and she would become the target. But before that, she vowed no one would be the victim of Capital ever again.
Before the blade struck, Katniss yelled “Watch out!” and twisted the tribute out of the way from the aim. She picked up the fallen knife and used her backpack to shield herself as she ran to the forest nearby, searching for Peeta and leaving the tribute which she saved, stunned.
#Amber#
“Katniss! Katniss!”
The world was a watery landscape. Katniss murmured something inaudible.
Someone was shaking her.
“Wake up! Katniss!”
Suddenly, Katniss found herself conscious. She was lying on a bed of ferns, with Peeta shaking her from above.
Determination igniting her heart, Katniss pulled Peeta away from their crash spot. She needed to get into the forest, the one below the creek gurgling over the cliffside.
Her pace became a run, her run became a sprint, ad her sprint became a leap.
Each leaf, each rock, each twig. All was a blur.
Peeta was panting beside her, but she plowed onwards.
Katniss felt the familiar scent of leaves, dry and green hit her nostrils.
The wind whipped past her, whistling a tune that set her at ease. But she remained on her guard.
While deer, elk, and rabbit scampered from her path, ferns and twigs blew all around. The cockroaches tweaked, the birds cawed and plant life rustled. Still, the girl plonged forwards.
Then, the barbed wire came into view.
“There, Snow’s government building.” Peeta stared wide-eyed at the marble foundation behind the wire.
Katniss collapsed onto the forest floor, but she stayed awake. The boughs of the evergreen trees formed a crisscrossing pattern, almost like a raven…And a tiny black shape flew from one branch.
The Mockingjay sang its song.
#Johnny#
Peeta looked around, dazed. The Mockingjay put a spell of silence on him. Katniss lay there, weak and feeble. She had fainted. The unconscious silhouette of her shined down on the ground of ferns as Peeta tried to give her a lift to the open space where Snow might be waiting for them. They had successfully made it out of the arena and building where it was supposed to keep them hostage. Now, it was time for revenge for the terrible tasks that were waiting inside the arena.
The world went blank. They couldn’t make a single sound at this rate. The world slowly zipped open as Katniss opened her eyes to find that she was on the bars of Peeta’s arms. She crawled off, then found her way into the spaces and gardens around the building. The arena was behind her. She had no need to think about what’s the trouble. She already knew. Peeta lay down, exhausted by the backbreaking weight of Katniss.
Were the Games starting? If it was, what’s going on here? Katniss imagined a bow in front of her and arrows piled up on her back. She had no idea what Peeta would be doing if her was in the Games. Peeta looked up at the tall building. Katniss did the same. All they had to do now was to enter.
#Bessie#
Walking in, the snow-white of the marble floors seemed cold and unwelcoming, the walls casting a dark shadow over the halls. It seemed desolated for Snow’s Government Building, almost as if everyone left in a hurry.
“I say we should leave,” Peeta said. “It could be a trap.”
But Katniss stared ahead, almost to a beckoning hand. A gust of wind blew into the hostile building which seemed to touch the building and for a moment, the smell of the outside wilderness, freedom, and the days where Katniss spent hunting in District 12. It seemed to disrupt the aura of death which hung thick around it.
The faintest whisper came from the air and a flickering image of Lany Aulumer danced with the light. “Be careful.” Lany reached out and a soft golden light wrapped around them. “HE is here. He is watching you.” Before she could say more, her words became to dim and she became to fade, crumble into nothing.
The only thing left was the aureate glow of the Mockingjay Pin which laid in Katniss’s hand.
#Amber#
Katniss put one foot in front of the other. Prim had told her to come back. Prim would be dead in the future.
Tears rolled down Katniss’s red cheeks. She shrugged them off. No. She was not going to give in. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Righ- an indentation in the marble. Katniss pushed herself back, throwing Peeta to the ground just as he was about to step on the indentation.
“Trap,” Katniss affirmed. Stone after stone pelted them, then the arrows soared into action. Katniss ducked, dived, and decided that her swearing vocabulary wasn’t enough. Peeta fared worse, having wound up in a corner, where the arrows were aiming. One of the arrows scratched the palm of his left hand, sending the lead on the tip quivering onto his skin. Peeta crawled away, agony piercing his skull. Katniss followed him, her own bow out and ready, just in case any human barriers had been sent.
Of course, Snow had barricaded the door already, with a squadron of Peacekeepers on the flank. “I’ve got you now, mockingbird. You are in my cage.” The sickly voice of Mr. Presidnt S. echoed around the hall.
Arrows. Katniss thought. Arrows.
Then, her feet were running. She leaped into the air, snatching lead-tipped arrows from mid-flight. Her quiver full, she began shooting, catching the Peacekeepers off guard. She bent down low, avoiding the bullets that whizzed past her head. Her ammunition was extensive. If Snow stopped her supply of arrows, then Peeta would escape into the tunnel beyond. If he decided to keep her trapped, she could shoot down the squadron of Peacekeepers in a flash.
However, Snow kept the volley going.
#Johnny#
Back and forth came the arrows and Katniss saw from her abundance of supplies that being trapped in a cage could be both an advantage and a disadvantage. For one thing, she couldn’t spot a single Peacekeeper that had looked in her way. All she was doing was shooting them down. She hoped Peeta was alright. Being trapped and the only way out was through a tunnel was awkward. The only chance now was to shoot. Snow was in the way. Katniss had to shoot him to free herself from the scramble.
Meanwhile, Peeta was cramped in his tiny spot for him to be concealed. He rolled his eyes and thought of escaping this heart-stopping place.
“I wish I could get out of here. It’s getting a bit stuffy. I wonder how is Katniss doing.” groaned Peeta, crouching in the most awkward position imaginable, choking as he locked his throat onto his knee. Will they get out of this mess and trouble?
#Bessie#
As Katniss continued, she suddenly stopped as she looked into her reflection on the black and white tiles. Black and white… She saw the peacemakers, their guns pointed at her, their identical suits as white as snow. The only things off were their helmets, which were topped with weird shapes such as one being the cross. Some had more than one of its kind, others were alone. Then Katniss looked at herself, in her dark coal-like apparel, standing in one of the middle two squares of the monochrome tiles. Then the realization hit her.
It was a giant chessboard.
Snow had lured her in, and by the formation and shapes of the peacekeepers they clearly represented pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, and a queen but where was the king? The objective of the whole game?
It was Snow. Snow was the King.
It was another reminder that Snow was in charge. That everyone else below him was a puppet or a pawn. He was willing to sacrifice anyone to suffice his goal. Killing Katniss. Killing the leader of the new government. Of the rebellion.
Katniss turned to run but stopped as she saw a ripple of iridescent through the air. It was a force field. Starting right at the edge of the tiles, the chessboard. And as she turned around she saw Snow’s smile. Sickly and speckled with dried crimson blood. His skin papery and hair as light as his surname, his eyes slit, serpentine, cold with malice.
“I wished you the best of luck in the Games, Ms. Everdeen. But those were only just the beginning.” “You have one minute to choose your path and your tile will explode once the timer is up.”
Katniss understood. The Games in her past life always followed her, always hunted her. No matter what, she was determined to change things. “Game on.”
From her experience of hearing her mother’s past life in the Town, the white pieces of the chess had the highest probability to win as they always started first. One peacekeeper, a pawn, moved forwards two spaces, its seemingly robotic movements reverberating throughout the now quiet building.
Then the force fields which trapped her disappeared and she was left with different paths to choose from. She knew she had to kill all of the peacekeepers before they get here but knew if she chose the path closest to the upcoming pawn, she knew it could also lead to her death. She would have no choice but to march into enemy territory where she would be overtaken. So instead, Katniss chose the path that lead her farthest away from the rest.
Peeta made a desperate attempt to get up. It was very quiet, the silence deathly and choking him. Was Katniss ok? Did she get injured? Or did she… That was a sickening thought. No way, the Capital would never catch Katniss, he reassured himself, but as moments ticked by, his worry began to grasp him until he could hold it anymore.
He pulled himself up forcefully, trying to not scream as the burning pain of his broken leg shot through him like electricity. For a moment, he had forgotten how to breathe, and his thoughts were clouded, imprisoned by the immense agony. Then he felt something cold and metal next to him.
It was the Mockingjay pin.
And the pin wasn’t normal at all. Peeta wasn’t sure if he had an injury on the head but the arrow of which the Mockingjay sat was spinning wildly, pointing to a direction. How queer. It’s like a compass. Peeta thought, picturing his old family and the time his father had gotten him a compass on his birthday. It is a compass! The bird’s raised wing tip that touched the top pointed to the north while the other wing which was folded back pointed east, and its long tailfeather pointed south. The indication of the nod of its elegant head was faced towards the west!
Peeta knew he must find Katniss. Now.
Katniss moved with caution trying to predict her opponent’s moves when she heard Peeta’s voice.
“Katniss, no!”
Turning quickly, she found Peeta running towards her, his bloodied leg limping beside him, and his face distorted with suffering. What are you doing here? She wanted to scream although she knew that Peeta wouldn’t hear her. She wanted to cry and run to him at the same but was fixed in the tile.
“You have 30 seconds left to choose Ms. Everdeen.”
“Don’t come in here Peeta. It’s a-!” Before she could say more, the force field shut down for one second, enough for Peeta to run through and fall onto Katniss.
“Katniss what is…”
“Peeta why did you come here. You were safe there, you could have hidden. How did you even get through?” Katniss said with tears streaming down her face.
“Katniss-”
“This is a giant chessboard! You are trapped here now!”
Suddenly, he shoved the golden pin in front of her, startling Katniss. The crazed spinning of the arrow stopped after a few seconds pointing in the direction of their right. “It’s a compass, Katniss! One that Lany gave us. It’s not your old pin, nor is it just like a compass. Just like how a compass is able to detect the earth’s natural magnetic field, I think this is detecting another thing. Something that can lead us to escape this place!”
“Peeta, it’s just broken! Why did you come all the way here? I wanted to save you!”
“Katniss, this chess game is rigged for failure.” Peeta motioned to all the paths and peacekeepers. “Every single one of these paths is leading you towards being surrounded. Then you would have no option but to surrender to him.”
“How do you know that?”
“I lived in the Town while you lived in Seam. We used to have a chessboard at home and I used to be the chess companion at our school. Don’t you remember?”
Katniss felt a little embarrassed but that quickly melted into fear as Snow’s voice announced 10 more seconds to choose.
“Katniss trust me! I think just like how magnets are attracted to opposite sides and the same sides would repel each other, the force field and this pin shares a force that repels each other that’s how it momentarily disabled it. If we follow the direction, we may find a secret escape route!”
#Amber#
Katniss whispered, “I’m which piece?” A section of paper fluttered into her hand.
The Queen.
It was inscribed in blood-red ink.
Katniss took the Mockingjay pin and followed it. Diagonal, the move of the Queen. She was on h3.
Peeta took the pin, directing himself with the writing on the slip in his hand: the Rook.
“7 squares forward,” Peeta instructed himself.
He skirted across to e7, knocking a peacekeeper over with his uninjured
leg.
A dashboard flickered to life, stating:
White: 0
Black:1
Katniss felt the pin leap into her palm. She realized the pin was the king, unable to move on the chessboard, but able to guide its pieces.
Her move sent her cartwheeling into an enemy Peacekeeper/piece, which was a knight.♕–>♘
Her teeth chattered, a bong inside the hollow room.
Peeta took his turn, skirting towards the enemy queen, a real female Peacekeeper.
“Don’t!” Katniss called, her lungs seeming to collapse on themselves.
“It’s the only way, when the queen moves, kill her, then attack the king. Don’t look.”
The female raised her golden head and sent him sprawling.
Katniss charged, her hand meeting the skull of the Peacekeeper Queen. She flipped over the fallen body and stood on f8. The king glowered at her, 2 spaces between them.
One bishop returned to guard the king, but Katniss shot him down. Staying on her square, she aimed at the enemy king. Her eyes blurred, a droplet of moisture trickling from beneath her squinted eyelid.
Snow laughed.
“Too afraid of me, little girl?” He asked.
“Hector Snow. Killer of Lany and Olly. Face it, you are a rascal, a bloody, rose-bestottled, rascal. You don’t even have the courage to kill yourself; you send others; you brainwash them; you kill with the glee of a child with candy.”
It was liberating to shout at Snow. Katniss felt free.
She shot the arrow.
#Johnny#
The twang of the bow sounded in the depth of the everlasting chess game. The arrow pierced Hector Snow just enough to make the oozy red syrupy blood come out from Snow’s leg. A scream of agony penetrated the silence of the game as Snow yelped with pain as the arrow hit him.
Katniss then moved her queen to the vital square. Checkmate. They were free. Not for long. Suddenly, Snow shot up and his servants and wife came for him, armed and ready.
“Get them,” ordered Snow, not willing to let them escape. Should Katniss and Peeta run off. Maybe Olly and Lany died because they failed this game. They started fleeing from Hector. Bullets were heard clanging on the metal doorway. Footsteps were heard clodding behind them. They were likely to get through this trouble with some hard effort. But do they have any way to do this?
They brushed themselves through the obstacles and out of the building. Now they have a big conflict to fight. Will they win?
#Bessie#
Running for what seemed forever, Katniss stopped when Peeta fell over on his injured leg and knocked into her. Only then did Katniss realize the sharp pain in her lungs which brought her to her knees, wheezing and gasping uncontrollably.
“Maybe, we should rest,” Peeta suggested, out of breath from the escape. Katniss pulled herself together and helped Peeta to a mossy pile of leaves that they hid under. The stank of mildew choked them as they watched, through the tiny cracks in the leaves, the white blurs of peacekeepers rush by. After waiting for a long time, where the sun began to set and paint the sky to deep gold color with a wash of blood red.
Katniss stood up from the soggy pile and stepped the branches on the surrounding trees. They were sturdy enough for her to climb so she swung herself on, and weaved with ease after the dense boughs before she saw the horizon line ahead. It was a vast expanse of forest from herself to the snow-peaked tips of the Rockies Mountains in the distance.
“What did you see?” Peeta asked when Katniss jumped down.
“We are near the Rockies where the ‘Nut’ is. If we get past the cordillera, we can make it into District 2.”
“Then what would we do?” He questioned, a dark shadow looming over his expression.
“What do we do? We must kill Snow?!”
“Katniss, think about this. Do you think this is all worth it?”
Worth it? How could he just say that? Didn’t he know all of the people that perished under Snow? Isn’t that what we vowed to do? To kill Snow?
“Listen, what about your mother and Prim. And my family as well? What about them? They are being dragged into this because of us.”
“Snow started this whole thing! We are just ending what he started!”
“Don’t you think this all might be a trap! He came back as well! He might be replaying this sick “game” of his for his entertainment.”
“I-”
Before she could protest more, a soft rustle quivered from the silent evening air. Peeta froze and Katniss immediately drew her bow. “I’m going after it!” She yelled and ran from the trees.
“Katniss wait!”
But she didn’t and instead continued to chase the could-be animal. But suddenly, she tripped on a tree root, lost her balance, and crashed on the muddy ground. Her bow skittered a few feet again and Katniss shakily crawled over to retrieve, her ankle ringing out in pain. Before she could regain her balance, the flat terrain slanted downward at a sharp angle and Katniss stumbled down. Before she could warn Peeta, she saw a glint of light in the dark, and from the shadows emerged a young girl.
Her posture was almost birdlike, her head tipped to the sky and tasting the wind, her arms positioned in a strong yet delicate manner that almost seemed to shimmer in the air like wings, and her eyes were bright, like golden beads of wonder. Katniss was sure she had been the lifeless body that was laid in thickets of wildflowers. It was like seeing a faraway ghost.
It was Rue.
#Johnny#
Tears streaked down Katniss at the thought of Rue. She had to survive. Maybe there was only ten or nine survivors left, mostly the Careers (what many people called the group of volunteers from wealthier districts that join up as a team to survive the games).
“Katniss!” called the fading, desperate voice of Peeta, wanting to partner with her. She made a run for it, following the long howling cries of Peeta calling out for Katniss’s help.
“I’m coming!” came the voice of Katniss. She arrived at a dark and vast cave where it looked like a figure of a person (that was obviously Peeta). Peeta beckoned her to come in. He brought out something metallic and something that whiffed of incense and any other pleasant healing odours. It looked like the first offering anyone had given under their mentor, Haymitch. “I hope the firebombs or anything else the Gamemakers might do won’t be happening in recent times.”
“It has,” replied Peeta, revealing a gash that was blood red and caused searing pain with the slightest contact. Some ointment was in the tin. Peeta took some and rubbed it on his wound. “Should we wait until sunrise?” Katniss nodded, and they drifted into sleep.
#Amber#
Eyelids opening.
Katniss shook herself. She was irratating. It was always Katniss the Sleepy who managed to plunge into a dreamat the most dire times.
Peeta was gone.
That was fact: he was not in the md, the bracken, on the floor or hiding. Katniss knew; she could not hear the whistling of the Mockingjay pin.
And then, there were the hour-old blood-stains which were dashed accross the floor, as if a freshly-painted red sack had been dragged over the sickly surface.
Katniss stood. She felt her heartstrings vibrate, her whole form shakes at the thought of what she was about to do. She thought of Prim. Of her mother. Of Peeta. Of Olly and Lany.
She was going to fail them all.
I can still help them. If I go back, they’d all be dead.
Katniss strode forwards, her back straightening, mouth turning taught.
Her hand found the wooden clasp of her make-shift arrow.
Pull. Aim. Pull. Aim. Pull Aim.
Just like Gale had taught her.
And this time, she let her arrow fly.
But this time, the target wasn’t a deer. It was Mr Smiley Poopey Pants Hector Snow. Ex-president, for he fell, a rusty nail in the whiteness of his perch.
Katniss felt a lurching twang. She knew where Peeta was. Snow would have taken their relatives into custody. For Peeta, there was something ‘special’.
#Bessie#
Prim was tending to her goat, Lady, when the Peacekeepers had arrived.
It was a beautiful day, the sunshine spilling over the Meadow, the sky blue eye which surveyed the people below, and the ugly landscape below bearing the scars of Panem. Gale had dropped in to check on them which was part of his routine to look after Prim and her mother as his promise with Prim’s sister, Katniss. It would become more permanent if Katniss…
Shaking thoughts from her head, Prim ignored reality and pictured the days she would watch her sister crossing the Meadow and into the woods where dinner awaited. Now, however, the constant humming of the electric fence seemed to echo from far away and the crackling energy was a proven menace that made the forest like a tangled ruin.
She didn’t understand why the electrical fence was turned on. It used to be never. Thankfully, Prim had her goat and her father’s book, along with the edits that Katniss made to find edible plants. Food was not her only worry. It was the broadcasting of the Games.
After the chariot parades, the tributes were rarely shown in the arena whereas it used to be 24/7 live reporting of it. Prim couldn’t bear the watch it but could recognize pitying glances towards her. She often received those stares at the time of her father’s death. Although no words were exchanged, soundless mutters crossed each other, the air hung heavy but her heart would be heavier. No news of her sister, no news of most of the tributes.
She thought she’ll never learn news until the white-uniformed broke down their door and had forced her and her mother with them and to the Capitol. The City of Lost Dream and Wishes.
The place she had hoped never to step foot in ever again in this lifetime. The explosions that baked her skin and the flurry of ashes were brazened in her memory.
It was the place where she had rested before, Death grasping her in its chilly hands, the future she had been sent from.
Her death.
#Johnny#
An icy chill flowed in her body. If she was going to die, she had to make sure that Peeta would make it if she had no chance of winning if she was thinking like this.
The boils and sores ached and Katniss realised that she could not go on like this. She needed to live.
“Come on, Peeta. I need to find you.” groaned Katniss. Suddenly, she heard the faint but familiar voice of Peeta from a nearby cavern. Peeta! He was hiding there all the time.
After crawling into the cave, she brought some ointment she found hanging in the trees, an ideal helper to soothe the pain. Now, how can she confess all this to Peeta?
————————————————————————————————————
#Amber#
The musty air woke Katniss from her slumber.
She stared at the charred plant life arond her body. PPeeta was not there. Not in the cave. She had been dreaming.
Katniss wanted to scream.
Her neck muscles shuddered. Her bod sook. But she restrained herself. Ones hout and she would reveal her hiding place.
Run. Jump. Run. Jump. Run. Jump.
Katniss flitted between the trees, getting closer and closer to the marbel building that Snow had erected.
Tall, stone arches flew above her head, holding the marbel roof on top. A black flag flew from the pike on the rivets, holding a white rose up with sickly pride.
But she wasn’t there to appreciate his handiwork.
Katniss shivered, her limbs out of her control. She wished she could just collapse and die there, on that spot. But Peeta. Prim. Rue. Gale. She steadied herself, ready to lea oncemore to the last tree.
The shot sounded.
#Bessie#
Katniss stilled and reached to pull her bow, her heart ringing in her chest. Who was it?
Suddenly the leaves shifted to reveal a figure, someone dressed in a dark veil and coat with a gun that pointed to the air, almost threatening to blow into the serene blue. Katniss was about to aim but suddenly, the figure pressed a black-gloved hand to its mouth and quietly put the gun away. Moving as if gliding through the woods, the cloaked person made their way and finally said in an almost ghostly voice, “It’s safe. The peacemakers are gone.”
“Who are you!”
“On the same side,” was the only answer as they slipped into the crumpled structure.
Peeta! Katniss thought with alarm and ran inside, unwilling to follow but what choice did she have. Peeta was in there. Somewhere.
Finally stopping, the person reached out in the darkness and took off her hood.
“I’m Avi. That’s my alias.” Her voice was cool and desolate of any emotion. It reminded her of Snow. There was a naturally syrupy tone to it, as the sickly sugar-coated words of the President, so vicious and fake. But unlike him, the girl seemed careless of any other things. Only one goal glimmered in her eyes which was dark and churning.
Katniss stared blankly.
“It means ‘bird’ quite nice isn’t it?”
“Like the Mockingjay,” Katniss replied.
The stranger smiled but it looked too much like Snow. The eyes didn’t crumble and wrinkle, they were wide and black as poison, the mouth only curved into a dull line and the face remained motionless.
“Aviela. That is my name. My father is God, ironic.”
Katniss was tempted to ask but held back.
“I’m working to overthrow the Capitol and I thought, isn’t it perfect to seek the ignitor of the flames myself?”
Silence again. Then it was Katniss who broke it. “How? How could I trust you? You look Capitol!”
“Snow isn’t dead. Can you trust me now? I’m here to save your friend, the boy. The peacekeepers would search this area tomorrow and all of you need to get out.”
“Why?”
Sighing, she buried her face, and Katniss was relieved to be released from the holds of the snake-like eyes. “I had a dream… I was dead. Almost everyone was. Right before I closed my eyes, I vowed, I would see Snow die. I would drag him with me, just like I had promised years ago. When I woke, I was in the past of my dream. It was just a dream but everything began replaying again. It was like a videotape I couldn’t stop.”
Katniss thought of her own dreams, her sister killed, Panem ruined, and her final breath before she fell into an endless slumber only to be awoken yet again
“Snow was my father. “ She admitted. “Ten years ago, my brother tried to overthrow Snow. He almost succeeded but…almost. He didn’t. He died and I ran away but I had promised my father something. That he would die by his own kin.”
#Johnny#
She had to admit that that long wait for her to find the answers to her most puzzling questions was useless. It would never come. By the way, evidence was futile. She couldn’t figure out anything now that her father was dead and that she had seen Prim dying those days ago. The thoughts shivered her body.
“Peeta.”
“Yes Katniss,” (Peeta was startled as he was just sleeping).
“I just want to tell you something. Snow, my dad, my sister. They have a sinister link.”
“I’m also suspicious.” That was a reason why they liked each other. They have a similar link.
I’m so wanting to leave the arena that’s spinning constantly in my head. I want to get out of this annoying time. I want to see mother.
“Ah, but it’s not over yet.” rumbled a familiar voice behind her.
It was Snow…
#Amber#
Really, it was ironic. Every time somethingimportant happened, Katniss seemed to always be unawares.
However, when the flat, short-bread knife emedded itself in Aviela’s shoulderblade, Katniss saw. The flashes of crinmson flecked emerald blades of vegetation.
Aviela screamed, her brow stained with the red fruit of battle. She groaned, staggering.
When she fell, clear green turned to sagging weeds of death.
“Snow…SERPENS…AUTEM” Aviela whispered, her chest straining, her cheeks turning pale. The wind that surged through the tretops carroied with it the scent of Snow-of sickly rose.
Katniss bent down beside Aviela, her hand pressed against the other Girl’s pulse. Her throat, dry as it was, and tired as her body was,Katniss mustered a cry of melody.
The notes, it was the old song that her father had sung, had always sung. The tune was broken, strangled. But the music-it had the same effect.
Aviela Amelsteion died witha smile on her face.
There was no doubt about it. Who else could have thrown the sharpprojectile? No one but Snow-his liabilities of death were in his path, his breath reeked of murder, the white presidential tiw he wore was not ceremonial-it was of vanity.
In no way did Katniss see the point of becoming a president if you killed half of your people. And in that moment, Katniss saw fire. A fire that would rage, unmercifully, baking, burning and roasting Snow wih all of his smugness. That fire, Katniss thought, would be her.
Bow up. Pull. Stretch. Pull.Stretch. Pull. Stretch.
Katniss let go.
______________________________________________________________________________________