Rowen Hart was not a rule follower. She was never afraid to speak her mind or follow her convictions no matter where they lead her. She was absolutely certain that the Capital could never take away her spirit.
But the Games change everyone.
Years a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~The Cornucopia~
*9 years earlier*
*start song* (keep replaying) The second the cannon went off I sprinted in the opposite direction of the Cornucopia. My heart beat erratically in my chest as I ran to where Ace's pedestal was, but he was nowhere to be found. The sound of fighting, screaming, and soon dying, echoed from all around.
I spun around in circles trying to find my best friend.For a moment I considered that he might have left me when I finally spotted him. I sucked in a breath at the sight of him and another tribute rolling around on the white snow.
For a moment I just stood there in shock. It was only when the boy, the one from District 10 if I remember correctly, was on top of Ace, strangling him, that I acted.
My feet crunched the snow beneath me as I lunged for the boy, effectively knocking him off of Ace. From beside me, I heard Ace breathing hoarsely, attempting to fill his lungs with air once more.
In less than a second the boy was diving at me. I rolled out of the way just in time for his knife to land in the snow right where my heart should have been. I scrambled to my feet, trying to gain a better fighting stance.
His next move I didn't anticipate though.
I had no time to dodge, roll, or deflect as the boy grabbed my hair and yanked, sending me falling back down to the ground. Retrieving his knife from the snow, it was quickly pressed against my throat.
"Not so tough are you know, huh kid?" He spat, smiling cruelly.
Terror and desperation coursed through my veins.
This was it.
I'd been training for days, all for my life to end less than five minutes into the games.
My hips bucked and I thrashed under him in a weak attempt to escape my fate but it was of no use.
I closed my eyes, accepting my fate, when the boy on top of me let out a grunt.
My eyes shot open just in time for blood to spray from his mouth straight onto my face. And then he fell off of me, eyes open and lifeless. The point of a knife stuck out from the front of the torso.
"Squirt, let's go!" Ace yelled, pulling the knife out of the now-dead, boy's body.
But my body didn't move. Instead, I was staring at the boy, blinking slowly at the realization that Ace had just killed someone. Not bothering to ask again, Ace grabbed my arm, hauled me to my feet, and began dragging me with him as we ran toward the forest. Just before we entered into the cover of the trees, I glanced back to see that the once stark white snow around the Cornucopia was now blood red.
