Victors' Village, District 12 [Thursday, Fandom-time]
Katniss had done her best not to pout through her time in District Twelve. Having Prim along to bring her back had helped, and even seeing her mother had made her feel a little more comforted.
However, the very fact that they were even announcing the Quarter Quell so early made her feel antsy. That feeling didn't shake for the first few days -- she knew the announcement was looming, even if Cinna hadn't been able to give her more details before hugging her goodbye on Monday.
Twelve, however, had changed inextricably in her absence. This was how she'd been spending her days -- walking through the district, picking up rumors, noticing the obvious differences. The first and most dramatic change was the presence of a whipping post and gallows. She didn't dare ask if they'd been used -- she could tell as much, from the change in her mother's herbal stores. The fence, as it turned out, had also been electrified. Every now and then, that happened, but Katniss hadn't heard the hum with any kind of consistency since before she had started hunting regularly.
After seeing how things were run in Eleven, she wasn't surprised. 'Surprised' was the wrong word. 'Guilty' was a better one. She knew these things were put into place because of her behavior, even if she hadn't been home in months.
Furtive conversations with Gale and Peeta told her the same -- she and Peeta had made a good show for the cameras when she'd first arrived, but after a day, they'd been able to fade into a comfortable pattern of walks and quiet talks. No one bothered them. Why would they, with the reputation of the two tributes? No one was inclined to disrupt young love.
It was after one of these such walks when Katniss heard the news about the Quell. She was just stomping the mud off her boots when Prim greeted her with, "It's a mandatory viewing, Katniss! Come look -- we were told about it in school!"
She hurried over to the television just in time to see Caesar Flickerman announcing that it was time for the Quarter Quell. When Prim asked why, since the Games weren't for months yet, their mother quietly, simply said, "It must be the reading of the card."
The anthem played, and Katniss's throat tightened with revulsion as President Snow took the stage. He was followed by a young boy dressed in a white suit, holding a simple wooden box. The anthem ended, and President Snow began to speak, to remind them all of the Dark Days from which the Hunger Games were born. When the laws for the Games were laid out, they dictated that every twenty-five years the anniversary would be marked by a Quarter Quell. It would call for a glorified version of the Games to make fresh the memory of those killed by the districts' rebellion.
And what a fitting time for a reminder, since Katniss had her suspicions that several districts were rebelling right then.
President Snow continued, reminding them of the two past Quarter Quells. "On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it. On the fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes."
Those, Katniss knew, had been Haymitch's game. He had faced forty-seven tributes, rather than just twenty-three, and lived. Worse odds, less hope, and ultimately, more dead kids.
"And now we honor our third Quarter Quell," said the president. The little boy in white stepped forward, holding out the box as he opened the lid. Katniss could see the tidy, upright rows of yellowed envelopes. Whoever devised the Quarter Quell system had prepared for centuries of Hunger Games.
The president removed an envelope clearly marked with a 75. He ran his finger under the flap and pulled out a small square of paper. Without hesitation, he read, "On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors."
Katniss's mother shrieked, and Prim buried her face in her hands. But Katniss sat, stunned, baffled. Existing pool of victors?
And then it hit. District Twelve had only three living victors. Two males, one female.
She would be going back into the arena.
Katniss's body reacted before she could. She ripped out of the house, running, running, and she had no idea where she was going except out. She ran for the fence, before the hum of the electricity reminded her how trapped she really was.
She collapsed against a wall, curling onto herself as the hysteria began to bubble up inside of her, until she was sobbing. She balled up a fist, sleeve and all, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Then, she began to scream.
She hadn't anticipated this. Executed publicly, maybe. Gunned down by Peacekeepers and hovercraft. Forced into a marriage with Peeta, with their children pushed into the arena.
But not this.
[spoilers for Catching Fire, with some text stolen from Chapter 13. NFI, NFB, but OOC is love. Poor Katniss.]
However, the very fact that they were even announcing the Quarter Quell so early made her feel antsy. That feeling didn't shake for the first few days -- she knew the announcement was looming, even if Cinna hadn't been able to give her more details before hugging her goodbye on Monday.
Twelve, however, had changed inextricably in her absence. This was how she'd been spending her days -- walking through the district, picking up rumors, noticing the obvious differences. The first and most dramatic change was the presence of a whipping post and gallows. She didn't dare ask if they'd been used -- she could tell as much, from the change in her mother's herbal stores. The fence, as it turned out, had also been electrified. Every now and then, that happened, but Katniss hadn't heard the hum with any kind of consistency since before she had started hunting regularly.
After seeing how things were run in Eleven, she wasn't surprised. 'Surprised' was the wrong word. 'Guilty' was a better one. She knew these things were put into place because of her behavior, even if she hadn't been home in months.
Furtive conversations with Gale and Peeta told her the same -- she and Peeta had made a good show for the cameras when she'd first arrived, but after a day, they'd been able to fade into a comfortable pattern of walks and quiet talks. No one bothered them. Why would they, with the reputation of the two tributes? No one was inclined to disrupt young love.
It was after one of these such walks when Katniss heard the news about the Quell. She was just stomping the mud off her boots when Prim greeted her with, "It's a mandatory viewing, Katniss! Come look -- we were told about it in school!"
She hurried over to the television just in time to see Caesar Flickerman announcing that it was time for the Quarter Quell. When Prim asked why, since the Games weren't for months yet, their mother quietly, simply said, "It must be the reading of the card."
The anthem played, and Katniss's throat tightened with revulsion as President Snow took the stage. He was followed by a young boy dressed in a white suit, holding a simple wooden box. The anthem ended, and President Snow began to speak, to remind them all of the Dark Days from which the Hunger Games were born. When the laws for the Games were laid out, they dictated that every twenty-five years the anniversary would be marked by a Quarter Quell. It would call for a glorified version of the Games to make fresh the memory of those killed by the districts' rebellion.
And what a fitting time for a reminder, since Katniss had her suspicions that several districts were rebelling right then.
President Snow continued, reminding them of the two past Quarter Quells. "On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it. On the fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes."
Those, Katniss knew, had been Haymitch's game. He had faced forty-seven tributes, rather than just twenty-three, and lived. Worse odds, less hope, and ultimately, more dead kids.
"And now we honor our third Quarter Quell," said the president. The little boy in white stepped forward, holding out the box as he opened the lid. Katniss could see the tidy, upright rows of yellowed envelopes. Whoever devised the Quarter Quell system had prepared for centuries of Hunger Games.
The president removed an envelope clearly marked with a 75. He ran his finger under the flap and pulled out a small square of paper. Without hesitation, he read, "On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors."
Katniss's mother shrieked, and Prim buried her face in her hands. But Katniss sat, stunned, baffled. Existing pool of victors?
And then it hit. District Twelve had only three living victors. Two males, one female.
She would be going back into the arena.
Katniss's body reacted before she could. She ripped out of the house, running, running, and she had no idea where she was going except out. She ran for the fence, before the hum of the electricity reminded her how trapped she really was.
She collapsed against a wall, curling onto herself as the hysteria began to bubble up inside of her, until she was sobbing. She balled up a fist, sleeve and all, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Then, she began to scream.
She hadn't anticipated this. Executed publicly, maybe. Gunned down by Peacekeepers and hovercraft. Forced into a marriage with Peeta, with their children pushed into the arena.
But not this.
[spoilers for Catching Fire, with some text stolen from Chapter 13. NFI, NFB, but OOC is love. Poor Katniss.]