The Rose Games

Hey everyone, this is kind of a Hunger Games spin-off fanfiction kinda thing, it is nothing like the Hunger Games only that it has the same Game concept.

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                                                                  Chapter 1

"Artemis!" Gima called from downstairs, and I jerked my head up, banging it sharply on the rafter above me.

"Owowow," I moaned as I massaged the top of my head where the rafter hit it.

"Artemis!" Gima called again.

"Comin', Gima!" I called, dusting off my breeches and slowly climbing down the attic ladder, closing the trap door and folding up the ladder to the ceiling.

I ran down the stairs, breeches billowing slightly around me, and skidded to a halt in the tiny kitchen.

"Artemis, where have you been?" Gima lightly scolded as she stirred the pot on the fireplace.

"In the attic, Gima.  Been lookin' through boxes," I said nonchalantly as I took a seat at the scrubbed wooden kitchen table.

Gima's back stiffened in front of the fire.  "What you been lookin' for?" she asked in a rigid sort of voice. 

"Nothin' in particular," I said, shrugging.  "Just curious."

Gima turned around and emitted a sigh of exasperation when she saw my clothes.

"Artemis Diana!  Why are you wearing those breeches?  I told you to dress properly for a young lady, not as a young man!  Breeches are for boys, Artemis, now go get dressed properly," she scolded, waving a finger at me but I know she'll never get mad at me that bad, she loves me too much.

"Well I don't see why I can't wear breeches, they're more comfortable, I can move more, it's easier for me to tend the fields 'cause I can move my legs, and the dress gets caught on the thorny weeds," I whined, pleading desperately with her.

"No is no, Artemis.  Now go get dressed," she said in a softer tone of voice.

"Yes, Gima," I said, the defeat evident in my voice as I headed for the stairs.

Gima wasn't my mother, but she was as good as one.  Gima wasn't her real name either, it was Acantha.  I called her Gima because when I learned to talk she looked like a grandma, but since I couldn't say grandma I said "G-ma" pronounced "gee-ma" and it eventually became Gima.  Only Gipa (as you guessed, Gima's husband's name was not Gipa it was Abderus, I called him Gipa for the same reason I called Gima that, because I couldn't say grandpa) called Gima by Acantha.  My mother was nowhere to be found, apparently.  Gima and Gipa found me swaddled in white cloth in their barn when they went to feed the livestock one morning, nestled in a pile of hay, sound asleep.  The only clue as to who I was was a note that read, "Her name is Artemis, after her mother.  Take care of her."  From the very first day I learned Gima and Gipa weren't my real parents I wondered where my mother and father were, and whether they were dead or alive. 

Gima and Gipa had searched far and wide for my mother, Artemis, but had found no trace of anyone named Artemis coming into the area in the whole history of the village.  And so I remained a mystery.

I came back down dressed in my white toga-esque dress that was the style of girls everywhere.  Plus, they were cheap to make. 

When Gima saw my new attire she nodded and continued to the stew.

Gima looked like a typical grandmother in my opinion, although she and Gipa had never been able to have kids.  She was short, plump, and had grey hair tied back into a loose bun at the back of her head that stray hairs often escaped and would hang in front of her face in a carefree manner.  Her eyes were a soft brown color.  She didn't wear the toga-looking dresses that all women, young women, and young girls wore, she wore they typical elder dress of a large skirt, small bodice that covered both her shoulders and her entire chest, while mine was a one-shoulder dress that dipped dangerously low in some places so I wore it as tight as possible.  The sleeves of Gima's dress extended all the way to her wrists, and there were small puffs at the shoulders.  As I said, typical grandmother, but she was my Gima.