The Hunger Games trilogy one shots

Prim~Catching Fire

     I sit on our couch with Buttercup in my lap.  Tonight is the night of the interviews.  The last time I will see my sister not fighting for her life.  I know she doesn't plan on coming home.  She will save Peeta.  I know Peeta will be fighting to make Katniss the victor of the 75th Hunger Games and third Quarter Quell.  I want Katniss to come home, but I know President Snow will never let that happen.  I will be forced to watch my big sister, the one who has taken care of me since she was 11, be slaughtered for the amusement of others.  A tear escapes my eye and I hurriedly wipe it away.

     The interviews begin, and I notice something.  The victors are angry.  I realize how betrayed they feel.  The rage that accompanies it.  But they are all very smart about how they play it, because it always comes back to the government and President Snow in particular.  Not everyone, though.  There are the old drawbacks, like some tributes names Brutus and Enobaria from District 2, who are just there for another games, and those who are to baffled or drugged or lost to join in on the attack.  But there are enough victors who still have the wits and nerve to come out fighting.

     A girl from District 1, Cashmere, starts the ball rolling with a speech about how she just can't stop crying when she thinks of how much the people in the Capitol must be suffering because they will lose the victors.  Her brother, Gloss, recalls the kindness shown in the Capitol to him and his sister.  A man from District 3, Beetee Latir, questions the legality of the Quell in a nervous, twitchy way, wondering if it's been fully examined by experts of late.  Finnick Odair from 4 recites a poem he wrote to his true love in the Capitol, and about a hundred people faint because they're sure he means them.  By the time District 7's Johanna Mason get's up, she's asking if something can't be done about the situation.  Surely the creators of the Quarter Quell never anticipated such love forming between the victors and the Capitol.  No one could be so cruel as to sever the deep bond.  A girl from District 11, Seeder, quietly ruminates about how back in District 11, everyone assumes President Snow is all-powerful.  So if he is so powerful, why doesn't he change the Quell?  And her district partner, Chaff, who comes right on her heels, insist the president could change the Quell if he wanted to, but he must not think it matters much to anyone.

     By the time Katniss is introduced, the audience is an absolute wreck.  People have been weeping and collapsing and even calling for change.  I see Katniss walk out in a beautiful white silk wedding dress and I let a tear fall.  I know Katniss said she would never get married, but now she won't even be able to get the chance.  The sight of her in her gown practically causes a riot in the crowd.  I can see Ceaser Flickerman's professionalism showing some cracks as he try's to quiet them so Katniss can speak, but her three minutes are quickly ticking away.

     Finally, there is a lull in the crowd and Ceaser get's out, "So, Katniss, obviously this is a very emotional night for everyone.  Is there anything you would like to say?"

     Her voice trembles as she speaks.  "Only that I'm so sorry you won't get to be at my wedding . . .but I'm glad you at least get to see me in my dress.  Isn't it just . . .the most beautiful thing?"  She begins to twirl slowly, raising the sleeves of her dress above her head.

     I hear screams in the crowd, and I gasp.  There is smoke from fire rising around her.  Not the flickery stuff she and Peeta wore last year in the chariot, but something much more real devours her dress.  I can see a look of panic cross across Katniss's face as the smoke thickens and I know she didn't know what was going to happen.  Charred of bits of black silk swirl around into the air and the pearls from her dress clatter to the stage.  My mother looks worried and so do I.  Her flesh doesn't seem to be burning though and I know her stylist, Cinna, must be behind whatever is happening.  She keeps spinning and spinning an for a split second I see her gasping, completely engulfed by the strange flames.  She slowly comes to a stop.  I see an exact copy of wedding dress, only it's the color of coal and made of tiny feathers.  Katniss raises her long flowing sleeves into the air and I see what Cinna has done.  Clothed in black except for the white patches on her sleeves, or should I say wings, I see Cinna has turned her into a Mockingjay.