Moar crackfic
Continued from here.
______________________
"Primrose Everdeen"
Katniss felt the air in her lungs turn to stone as the Empress' crisp pronouncement of her sister's fate rang through Coalfire City's public square. Her lips refused to move while her legs somehow managed to turn and orient her so she could see Prim in the midst of her fellow twelve year old girls. She failed to immediately move forward as the shock of someone so young being given an effective death sentence worked its way around and through her. As just another puppet in these Fire Nation designs, Prim unevenly stepped out of the crowd and into the center of the square.
"Prim!" Katniss found escaping from her lips, more of a shout than a whisper. She propelled herself forward and quickly emerged from the crowd as well. Suddenly feeling the eyes of Firemen on her, she stuttered out the explanation, "I volunteer!"
Prim was overwhelmed by her first reaping, pushed beyond her limits when she was selected, and with Katniss' announcement began to softly cry as her universe crumbled into sand around her. Katniss felt a dangerous mix of terror and grief stirring in her stomach as well.
"Be firm," Katniss desperately whispered down at her, as she steeled herself. She couldn't let Prim's tears move her. She wouldn't give the Empress the satisfaction of so readily seeing her handiwork in the districts. No, she would play the winner and then be the winner. Even if District Two, the ever untouchable Gaoling had won both previous games easily. If she copied their pride, might not sponsors mistake her for an equally sound investment?
Gale had stepped out of the sea of faces and pulled the now sobbing Prim from Katniss, freeing her to approach the enormous platform on which the Empress herself stood. Katniss pushed every thought other than the certainty that she would win from her mind.
"I volunteer as tribute, my esteemed Empress," she announced, her face held as high as she could. In spite of that, her eyes were scarcely reaching the chin of the most powerful person in the world. She had effectively smoothed her voice, which only had the slightest undertone of sadness.
"That was your sister, wasn't it?" the syrupy voice noted with an air of curiosity. Katniss continued to stare intently at the edge of the chin, realizing she needed to respond but unsure of how to broach the topic of siblings with someone who had imprisoned her own. The thought occurred to Katniss that hesitation in answering might inspire the Empress to jail her as well, so she simply confirmed in a deadened voice, "Yes."
"And so your full name would be what?" the voice sugared with lies continued. In a daze Katniss gave her full name and was congratulated with a cheerful but monotonous, "We welcome to the Hunger Games the enthusiasm you showed today." The realization dawned on Katniss that there was nothing she could ever do to overcome the offense of volunteering for her sibling. The Fire Empress had overcome her brother in a battle of survival and now she had volunteered to risk death in the place of her sister. She was beyond a strange creature - she was incomprehensible to the level of being threatening. Her subtle smirk seemed all the more hostile as Katniss ascended the stairs on the side of the platform and was directed to a seat by a haughty Fire Nation servant, who seemed offended to have to cater to a fellow peasant for the time being.
Katniss' mind ran over these facts as the Empress announced that the second tribute would be selected. The games themselves were designed to undermine unity among the districts, or at least, that's what Gale always insisted as they ventured out for hunting and gathering firewood into the inland woods, where no one could hear. With the former provinces of the Earth Kingdom That Was set against each other in a constrained death struggle, it was a fairly obvious point to make. But at this year's beginning ceremony for her district, Katniss had volunteered, and not out of a foolhardy but selfish design after the victor's spoils but to spare her sister. She had contradicted the very lesson the games were set to establish.
Worst of all, she had done this before the grand presenter of the games, who would introduce her before the Fire Nation nobles, who might take the chance of sponsoring her. She was a non-bending girl, and therefore unlikely to attract as much attention as either the benders or the boys. And now she had poisoned the opinion of the Empress who would explain her history and strengths, risking what little chance she had.
"Peeta Mellark," the Empress read off from the small paper slip she had plucked from the boy's jar. Katniss felt every thought she had just had of the perils she would face stall for a moment. She wondered why that name was familiar, until a face appeared at the front of the crowd. Peeta didn't emerge from the rest of them to face the Empress as an individual the way Katniss had. He held back, and anxiously shifted weight between his feet.
He was the boy with the bread. Before this reaping the bleakest times had been was after her father had died. Katniss could fetch a few copper coins from her trips to the forest for proper wood, but in the dreary winter there were no greens to gather nor animals to hunt there. The coins she made for of days work bought so few loaves of bread which had to be shared between the three of them. Her mother would offer to darn clothing or tents for the fellow families, who were eager to provide her family with help after the accident, but she couldn't concentrate. Her eyes would go misty and she would clutch a torn shirt or incomplete smock but not fix and complete them. Soon her clients went elsewhere, and what little gains they made rested solely on Katniss' shoulders, which couldn't bare it.
She had been starving and carting a heavy pocket of coins that fell just short of the new bread prices one night. The dry winter air nipped at her exposed face and she felt as though trudging uphill to the refugee camp on the edge of town was simply too much for her. Her feet barely managed to go one in front of the other in the level streets of the proper town. She dawdled just outside one bakery, hoping desperately that they might cut their prices or allow her to make her pathetic offer while they closed. She thought they would surely want to get rid of bread that would be stale the following morning. The one she had selected had a broken door and no sweeper to clean its grimy floors. Katniss hoped its owners would be desperate for even a substandard sale.
As the cold air chilled from biting to unimaginably numb, Katniss grew impatient. She decided to try her luck even with nearly an hour before darkness which served as the typical closing time. After approaching the counter in the empty store she asked what she could have for nineteen coins, ignoring the sign next to her which proclaimed the cheapest loaves to be twenty coins. The woman there laughed heartily and then with a suddenly serious face told Katniss, "Leave and never come back."
Katniss originally froze, unable to imagine that her inability to pay the advertised price had truly been a reason to ban her from the store. The woman quickly clarified, "When I say that, I mean the whole town, you filthy refugee." Realizing that the interior of the store offered no witnesses that were not kin to the rude woman, Katniss quickly backed away and then walked out of the store. Once outside, her legs felt nearly incapable of moving, so as she hobbled past the side of the bakery, she was able to turn and stare at the boy who whispered to her, "Come here."
Her handed her half the loaf of bread he had been tearing apart and eating. In her hands it felt cold, but Katniss gently handled the gift nonetheless. It seemed stale, but Katniss was grateful for it all the same. It wasn't what she had quite hoped for, but it would do.
"Come back tomorrow at the same time and I'll give you half again for five coins," he explained in a hurried manner, then gestured her away, "Now go before she catches you." Katniss split the bread among herself, her sister, and mother that night. After selling what little logs she could cut in the course of a single day, she returned to the shop and thankfully the boy was there and willing to give her half of his loaf for five coins.
Their hurried and secretive transactions continued for three weeks. Katniss never asked the boy his name, but deduced from conversations she overheard around the bakery that his family's name was Mellark and that his father was well liked in town, even if they were even poorer than most of their neighbors. As Spring began, Katniss could gather some fresh greens and even a few berries for her family to enjoy alongside the Mellark's discount bread. When one evening the boy only quickly stepped outside with a horrendous black eye, Katniss was shocked to find herself concerned for this person she barely interacted with.
"My mother found out. We have to stop this," he curtly told her, before adding on a more gentle, "Sorry." Katniss nodded at his knowingly just before he turned and returned to his post in the Bakery through its back entrance. Katniss knew that more food was hers for the taking with each trip into the forests as the weather warmed, so she could sell expensive berries or nuts in town and perhaps buy Prim a goat with that. The bread had helped her family, but it was hardly something she could have counted on indefinitely.
Now he stood nervously before her and the Empress, the boy who had fed her when the rest of the town would have let her and her family starve. And she would have to kill him if she wanted to live.
______________________
"Primrose Everdeen"
Katniss felt the air in her lungs turn to stone as the Empress' crisp pronouncement of her sister's fate rang through Coalfire City's public square. Her lips refused to move while her legs somehow managed to turn and orient her so she could see Prim in the midst of her fellow twelve year old girls. She failed to immediately move forward as the shock of someone so young being given an effective death sentence worked its way around and through her. As just another puppet in these Fire Nation designs, Prim unevenly stepped out of the crowd and into the center of the square.
"Prim!" Katniss found escaping from her lips, more of a shout than a whisper. She propelled herself forward and quickly emerged from the crowd as well. Suddenly feeling the eyes of Firemen on her, she stuttered out the explanation, "I volunteer!"
Prim was overwhelmed by her first reaping, pushed beyond her limits when she was selected, and with Katniss' announcement began to softly cry as her universe crumbled into sand around her. Katniss felt a dangerous mix of terror and grief stirring in her stomach as well.
"Be firm," Katniss desperately whispered down at her, as she steeled herself. She couldn't let Prim's tears move her. She wouldn't give the Empress the satisfaction of so readily seeing her handiwork in the districts. No, she would play the winner and then be the winner. Even if District Two, the ever untouchable Gaoling had won both previous games easily. If she copied their pride, might not sponsors mistake her for an equally sound investment?
Gale had stepped out of the sea of faces and pulled the now sobbing Prim from Katniss, freeing her to approach the enormous platform on which the Empress herself stood. Katniss pushed every thought other than the certainty that she would win from her mind.
"I volunteer as tribute, my esteemed Empress," she announced, her face held as high as she could. In spite of that, her eyes were scarcely reaching the chin of the most powerful person in the world. She had effectively smoothed her voice, which only had the slightest undertone of sadness.
"That was your sister, wasn't it?" the syrupy voice noted with an air of curiosity. Katniss continued to stare intently at the edge of the chin, realizing she needed to respond but unsure of how to broach the topic of siblings with someone who had imprisoned her own. The thought occurred to Katniss that hesitation in answering might inspire the Empress to jail her as well, so she simply confirmed in a deadened voice, "Yes."
"And so your full name would be what?" the voice sugared with lies continued. In a daze Katniss gave her full name and was congratulated with a cheerful but monotonous, "We welcome to the Hunger Games the enthusiasm you showed today." The realization dawned on Katniss that there was nothing she could ever do to overcome the offense of volunteering for her sibling. The Fire Empress had overcome her brother in a battle of survival and now she had volunteered to risk death in the place of her sister. She was beyond a strange creature - she was incomprehensible to the level of being threatening. Her subtle smirk seemed all the more hostile as Katniss ascended the stairs on the side of the platform and was directed to a seat by a haughty Fire Nation servant, who seemed offended to have to cater to a fellow peasant for the time being.
Katniss' mind ran over these facts as the Empress announced that the second tribute would be selected. The games themselves were designed to undermine unity among the districts, or at least, that's what Gale always insisted as they ventured out for hunting and gathering firewood into the inland woods, where no one could hear. With the former provinces of the Earth Kingdom That Was set against each other in a constrained death struggle, it was a fairly obvious point to make. But at this year's beginning ceremony for her district, Katniss had volunteered, and not out of a foolhardy but selfish design after the victor's spoils but to spare her sister. She had contradicted the very lesson the games were set to establish.
Worst of all, she had done this before the grand presenter of the games, who would introduce her before the Fire Nation nobles, who might take the chance of sponsoring her. She was a non-bending girl, and therefore unlikely to attract as much attention as either the benders or the boys. And now she had poisoned the opinion of the Empress who would explain her history and strengths, risking what little chance she had.
"Peeta Mellark," the Empress read off from the small paper slip she had plucked from the boy's jar. Katniss felt every thought she had just had of the perils she would face stall for a moment. She wondered why that name was familiar, until a face appeared at the front of the crowd. Peeta didn't emerge from the rest of them to face the Empress as an individual the way Katniss had. He held back, and anxiously shifted weight between his feet.
He was the boy with the bread. Before this reaping the bleakest times had been was after her father had died. Katniss could fetch a few copper coins from her trips to the forest for proper wood, but in the dreary winter there were no greens to gather nor animals to hunt there. The coins she made for of days work bought so few loaves of bread which had to be shared between the three of them. Her mother would offer to darn clothing or tents for the fellow families, who were eager to provide her family with help after the accident, but she couldn't concentrate. Her eyes would go misty and she would clutch a torn shirt or incomplete smock but not fix and complete them. Soon her clients went elsewhere, and what little gains they made rested solely on Katniss' shoulders, which couldn't bare it.
She had been starving and carting a heavy pocket of coins that fell just short of the new bread prices one night. The dry winter air nipped at her exposed face and she felt as though trudging uphill to the refugee camp on the edge of town was simply too much for her. Her feet barely managed to go one in front of the other in the level streets of the proper town. She dawdled just outside one bakery, hoping desperately that they might cut their prices or allow her to make her pathetic offer while they closed. She thought they would surely want to get rid of bread that would be stale the following morning. The one she had selected had a broken door and no sweeper to clean its grimy floors. Katniss hoped its owners would be desperate for even a substandard sale.
As the cold air chilled from biting to unimaginably numb, Katniss grew impatient. She decided to try her luck even with nearly an hour before darkness which served as the typical closing time. After approaching the counter in the empty store she asked what she could have for nineteen coins, ignoring the sign next to her which proclaimed the cheapest loaves to be twenty coins. The woman there laughed heartily and then with a suddenly serious face told Katniss, "Leave and never come back."
Katniss originally froze, unable to imagine that her inability to pay the advertised price had truly been a reason to ban her from the store. The woman quickly clarified, "When I say that, I mean the whole town, you filthy refugee." Realizing that the interior of the store offered no witnesses that were not kin to the rude woman, Katniss quickly backed away and then walked out of the store. Once outside, her legs felt nearly incapable of moving, so as she hobbled past the side of the bakery, she was able to turn and stare at the boy who whispered to her, "Come here."
Her handed her half the loaf of bread he had been tearing apart and eating. In her hands it felt cold, but Katniss gently handled the gift nonetheless. It seemed stale, but Katniss was grateful for it all the same. It wasn't what she had quite hoped for, but it would do.
"Come back tomorrow at the same time and I'll give you half again for five coins," he explained in a hurried manner, then gestured her away, "Now go before she catches you." Katniss split the bread among herself, her sister, and mother that night. After selling what little logs she could cut in the course of a single day, she returned to the shop and thankfully the boy was there and willing to give her half of his loaf for five coins.
Their hurried and secretive transactions continued for three weeks. Katniss never asked the boy his name, but deduced from conversations she overheard around the bakery that his family's name was Mellark and that his father was well liked in town, even if they were even poorer than most of their neighbors. As Spring began, Katniss could gather some fresh greens and even a few berries for her family to enjoy alongside the Mellark's discount bread. When one evening the boy only quickly stepped outside with a horrendous black eye, Katniss was shocked to find herself concerned for this person she barely interacted with.
"My mother found out. We have to stop this," he curtly told her, before adding on a more gentle, "Sorry." Katniss nodded at his knowingly just before he turned and returned to his post in the Bakery through its back entrance. Katniss knew that more food was hers for the taking with each trip into the forests as the weather warmed, so she could sell expensive berries or nuts in town and perhaps buy Prim a goat with that. The bread had helped her family, but it was hardly something she could have counted on indefinitely.
Now he stood nervously before her and the Empress, the boy who had fed her when the rest of the town would have let her and her family starve. And she would have to kill him if she wanted to live.