Sequel: Eyes Open ›
Status: Re-Post from when the server crashed
The Huntress
Chapter Two
We were all lined up in the square. Eighteen year olds stood in the front, the younger kids behind us. Today I was hoping that none of the Everdeen names would be picked today. Today I made a promise to not only to myself but to Katniss and Prim that I would volunteer not only if their names were called but if any girls name was called. The one boy I wouldn’t want to be called would have to be Gale.
Since my father died, in a mining accident when I was fourteen and Katniss was twelve we had to fend for ourselves. Gale’s father died in the same mining accident and I soon became the main person who provided for the family. My mother went into this shell and for about four months she refused to get up from the chair and my father sat in and rarely ate. Most of the time I made my mother get up and forced her to eat. I soon was taking on my mother’s job of healing the sick with Prim and I made a little bit of money when Mrs. Mellark hired me at the bakery to help Peeta and her family sell the breads but it wasn’t enough to keep a family of four people alive and soon I was forced to start hunting when I wasn’t working at the bakery. I officially met Gale one day while Katniss and I were hunting in the woods. I had my eyes set on a big wild turkey and when I let my arrow go from my bow I saw a knife fly at the same time and we both killed the turkey. When we got to the turkey, Gale was already there trying to figure out who or what killed the turkey. We then spent the next twenty minutes fighting over who was going to keep the turkey. We both had families to feed and we weren’t budging on who was going to take home the turkey so that’s when we started hunting together. Gale and I became a hunting team and when I couldn’t hunt Katniss went for me. Gale taught me how to set up snares and I taught him how to use a bow and arrow and how to properly hunt since my father had brought Katniss and I out to the woods since we were little and he taught us everything we know. I introduced Gale to the Hob or the black market of District 12. My dad told me when I was younger that the Hob was originally a coal warehouse, but once a more efficient system of coal transport was discovered that allowed the coal to be taken directly from the mines to the trains that took the coal to the Capitol, the warehouse was abandoned, and the empty space was gradually taken over by the Hob. Not only was poaching punishable by death that we all did but so was having a black market in Panem. We were just lucky in the fact that their peacekeepers were a heck of a whole lot more relaxed than other districts and were usually found in the Hob getting something to eat by Greasy Sae. Greasy Sae was an owner of a little booth that made soup for all the locals that went into the Hob. I usually traded a small amount of game that I would kill for a nice bowl of whatever stew she was making for the day.
As I took in my surroundings I looked over to see Gale looking at me and we both nodded to each other. We then looked back to see my younger sisters, Katniss and Prim behind me. I then made sure Gale’s brothers we also there. Wouldn’t want to have anyone missing and become an Avox now because I would fight the Capitol guards. I then turned back to face the stage before us and I saw Effie Trinket and Mayor Undersee sitting on the stage looking nervous since Haymitch Abernathy, the last Hunger Games winner of District 12, seat empty.
He’ll show up hammered, I thought to myself and just shook my head lightly trying to get thought out of my head before we started broadcasting live to the rest of Panem and the Capitol.
The town square clock struck two and the Panem Anthem started. We stood like we were taught at school to do and waited for Mayor Undersee to start his usual speech about Panem’s history and how the Hunger Games came to start. Approximately seventy-four years ago, was when the thirteen districts rebelled against the Capitol because of the oppression and rules that the Capitol had made. Let’s just say that the rebels lost that battle and District 13 was obliterated into nothing and we were left with these sadistic Hunger Games to remind us of our forefathers’ failure. The Hunger Games are when each district sends two tributes, one boy and one girl, to fight for each district. The prize: fame, money, food, life, almost everything and anything you can think of. There are a total of twenty-four tributes and only one of them will walk out of that arena alive. I was then brought back to reality when Effie Trinket walked to the podium and began talking.
“Happy Hunger Games District 12! And may the odds be ever in your favor!” she said enthusiastically as we all remained emotionless, “Let’s get started shall we? I’ll start with the girl’s names first.”
As she was walking over to where the giant glass bowls of names were, I was thinking about how many times I put my name in the drawing. Over the last four years my name has went from four times to a grand total of thirty-five times. I managed to talk the people in the Justice Building into letting me take extra tesserae for the people in the Seam in exchange for having my name the most in the bowl. As Effie and her white powered face and over the top pink outfit made their way to the bowls, Haymitch stumbled onto the stage.
“Well hello there Effie,” he slurred and Effie wasn’t fast enough as Haymitch hugged her drunkenly and we all watched her hair move about an inch.
“Hello to you to Haymitch,” she said sweetly and darts around him, “Now the girl tribute for District 12 is Primrose Everdeen.”
Since my father died, in a mining accident when I was fourteen and Katniss was twelve we had to fend for ourselves. Gale’s father died in the same mining accident and I soon became the main person who provided for the family. My mother went into this shell and for about four months she refused to get up from the chair and my father sat in and rarely ate. Most of the time I made my mother get up and forced her to eat. I soon was taking on my mother’s job of healing the sick with Prim and I made a little bit of money when Mrs. Mellark hired me at the bakery to help Peeta and her family sell the breads but it wasn’t enough to keep a family of four people alive and soon I was forced to start hunting when I wasn’t working at the bakery. I officially met Gale one day while Katniss and I were hunting in the woods. I had my eyes set on a big wild turkey and when I let my arrow go from my bow I saw a knife fly at the same time and we both killed the turkey. When we got to the turkey, Gale was already there trying to figure out who or what killed the turkey. We then spent the next twenty minutes fighting over who was going to keep the turkey. We both had families to feed and we weren’t budging on who was going to take home the turkey so that’s when we started hunting together. Gale and I became a hunting team and when I couldn’t hunt Katniss went for me. Gale taught me how to set up snares and I taught him how to use a bow and arrow and how to properly hunt since my father had brought Katniss and I out to the woods since we were little and he taught us everything we know. I introduced Gale to the Hob or the black market of District 12. My dad told me when I was younger that the Hob was originally a coal warehouse, but once a more efficient system of coal transport was discovered that allowed the coal to be taken directly from the mines to the trains that took the coal to the Capitol, the warehouse was abandoned, and the empty space was gradually taken over by the Hob. Not only was poaching punishable by death that we all did but so was having a black market in Panem. We were just lucky in the fact that their peacekeepers were a heck of a whole lot more relaxed than other districts and were usually found in the Hob getting something to eat by Greasy Sae. Greasy Sae was an owner of a little booth that made soup for all the locals that went into the Hob. I usually traded a small amount of game that I would kill for a nice bowl of whatever stew she was making for the day.
As I took in my surroundings I looked over to see Gale looking at me and we both nodded to each other. We then looked back to see my younger sisters, Katniss and Prim behind me. I then made sure Gale’s brothers we also there. Wouldn’t want to have anyone missing and become an Avox now because I would fight the Capitol guards. I then turned back to face the stage before us and I saw Effie Trinket and Mayor Undersee sitting on the stage looking nervous since Haymitch Abernathy, the last Hunger Games winner of District 12, seat empty.
He’ll show up hammered, I thought to myself and just shook my head lightly trying to get thought out of my head before we started broadcasting live to the rest of Panem and the Capitol.
The town square clock struck two and the Panem Anthem started. We stood like we were taught at school to do and waited for Mayor Undersee to start his usual speech about Panem’s history and how the Hunger Games came to start. Approximately seventy-four years ago, was when the thirteen districts rebelled against the Capitol because of the oppression and rules that the Capitol had made. Let’s just say that the rebels lost that battle and District 13 was obliterated into nothing and we were left with these sadistic Hunger Games to remind us of our forefathers’ failure. The Hunger Games are when each district sends two tributes, one boy and one girl, to fight for each district. The prize: fame, money, food, life, almost everything and anything you can think of. There are a total of twenty-four tributes and only one of them will walk out of that arena alive. I was then brought back to reality when Effie Trinket walked to the podium and began talking.
“Happy Hunger Games District 12! And may the odds be ever in your favor!” she said enthusiastically as we all remained emotionless, “Let’s get started shall we? I’ll start with the girl’s names first.”
As she was walking over to where the giant glass bowls of names were, I was thinking about how many times I put my name in the drawing. Over the last four years my name has went from four times to a grand total of thirty-five times. I managed to talk the people in the Justice Building into letting me take extra tesserae for the people in the Seam in exchange for having my name the most in the bowl. As Effie and her white powered face and over the top pink outfit made their way to the bowls, Haymitch stumbled onto the stage.
“Well hello there Effie,” he slurred and Effie wasn’t fast enough as Haymitch hugged her drunkenly and we all watched her hair move about an inch.
“Hello to you to Haymitch,” she said sweetly and darts around him, “Now the girl tribute for District 12 is Primrose Everdeen.”