Sell my Soul⇸Finnick Odair [1]

04

Time passed quickly for Terra, winter was upon them and the heat had diminished quite a bit but never enough for them to see snow. Much of her time had been divided between working the cattle, spending time with her brother, and trips to the capitol.

The other Victor's had taken to conversing with the occupants of district 10 no matter how many names were thrown their way. They worked the crowd and began calling to their friends in the other districts to reassure themselves that they had not fallen to the pending rebellion that threatened the fragile safety that hung by a thread.

She was scared, feeling the danger growing around her and the peacekeepers must have felt the same because they visited more frequently, leaving gifts that would either imprison them or aid her in times of war.

One of the more expensive gifts she could tell was from Snow, the man baiting her into standing as a symbol for the Capitol - one to rival Katniss' mockingjay. The whip had arrived when she was in the town square going from one shop to the next. It was designed of the finest leathers that could be made from the cattle of her own district, the handle fitted for her hand.

The cameras had been on her then, a live video feed going through to the Capitol and other districts - a broadcast where she was posed to act the part of grateful victor in the ever-hungry eyes of Panem that were starving for something more.

The Capitol citizens were yearning for their Victors, to shroud them in gifts, to sit with them in fancy parlors for one event a year and watch as the tributes slaughter each other for the chance to live.

The districts were hungry for freedom from the oppressive rule that weighed down on them, working them like they were the cattle to feed and pamper the rich.

Terra had been gifted a whip, a weapon used to punish the people of the districts and work the cattle that she helped to raise. She had been publicly thrust into the light, Snow showing that she was one of them, holding a whip that they all knew she could use.

People had begun to go out of their way to throw insults at her and her name was being called more and more often to present herself to cut meat for the Capitol as a result. Her world was a mess before her.

With winter came more time for her to hide as well, the animals not needing much work as they fenced them close to the barns where the warmth was held. Cows and bulls did not fight when handlers came with blankets, horses choosing to stay in the ranches - the sheep were the hardest to handle as they were not happy to lose the warmth of their wool.

Henrik often left his daughter with his sister for the day when he needed to work with her father, both of the little girl's parents tried their hardest to include Terra into their lives after not speaking with her for so long.

It was one of those fateful days, the ones where she was watching Mella happily, that the televised announcement took place for news revolving around the Quarter Quell. The two girls were sat comfortably in front of the television awaiting the mandatory broadcast to begin.

Terra had found it was one of the few times she could bare looking at President Snow, her niece was an anchor that kept her rage and disgust from seeping through. It kept her from having to face him completely alone, vulnerable even if he was nowhere within her vicinity.

They had just finished watching news on the Katniss and Peeta's wedding when Caesar was telling them to stay tuned for the next event.

She had briefly wondered who did not know about the Quarter Quell, it was the only thing that the Capitol spoke to her about in each visit since the Victor's tour ended.

It started with the Panem anthem, the music making her feel sick and her lips involuntarily curled into a snarl but the adorable babble of her niece brought her back from the blurry haze of rage. Mella was young, far too young to understand the horrors that were the games and Terra was not going to be the one to enlighten her to the terrors of the world.