A/N Hiii, this is my first fanfiction ever, so I'm sorry if it's not very good! This is a Catoniss (Cato/Katniss) fanfiction.
The story will be mostly Katniss' POV, but also a few chapters in Cato's POV.
Disclaimer: (this goes for all future chapters) I did not write the hunger games, i do not own the hunger games (unfortunately), and all the opinions in this story are purely mine/fictional.
"PRIMROSE EVERDEEN," Effie Trinket calls out as she unfolds and reads the slip of paper. I feel as if someone has punched me in the stomach, as all the air rushes out of my lungs. No. Prim. How could she have her name picked? The odds of her getting picked are about 1 in a few thousand. She is only 12, and I take the tessera, so she only has one slip. One slip.
"KATNISS!" Prim's scream knocks me out of my thoughts, and back into the present.
I have to do something, I cannot, will not, let my 12 year old little sister into the games. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" I blurt out in my panic to save prim. I can feel everyone's shocked stares on me, and I give Gale a look, telling him to get Prim.
"Lovely!" Effie Trinket smiles her fake, purple lipped smile. "Well, Bravo! That's the spirit of the games! Come up here now.."
I hold my head high as I walk up, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing tears. Prim tries to grab me, but thankfully Gale scoops her up and pulls her back into the crowd.
"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we? Come on, everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" trills Effie Trinket. Nobody claps.
After that, everything happens in a blurry sort of haze, and the only three things I register are:
1. I am going into the arena
2. I am totally screwed
3. The male tribute is Peeta Mellark, who gave me bread before when I was about to starve (basically he saved my life). I know I won't be able to kill him, but is it bad I am secretly hoping out of the 22 others tributes, someone has to finish him before I do?
Later, after the reaping, Peeta and I are rushed onto the train, and our families are welcomed in to say goodbye. Considering that the word tribute pretty much means the same thing as corpse in district 12, I figure that this goodbye has a very good chance of being the last time my mother and Prim ever see me again, unless you count when my body is shipped back to them probably mutilated with stab wounds and maybe even missing an arm (or, if I'm unlucky, a head).
Prim bursts into the room, sobbing. She gives me a huge hug, as my mother steps into the room.
"Prim, you'll be fine. Don't take any tessarae, sell Lady's cheese. Gale will bring you game, and he can also help you collect the herbs that you don't grow yourself," I direct the last part at my mom.
"You can't leave again, you have to take care of Prim!" I say, giving her a look. She nods, but she still looks dazed. Then, time is up, and they have to leave. Next, Gale comes in.
"Hey Catnip," he says with a half-smile. "You'll be fine. You can hunt, and climb. There will be a bow in there, I know there will. Get your hands on it somehow. Watch out for the careers, and try to gain sponsors. I know you've only hunted animals before, but in the end, it's not all that different." He speaks with an unnerving certainty, and I can only nod numbly. He reassures me that he will take care of Prim while I am gone, and says that he looks forward to seeing me back. As if he knows that I will live to come back...
Finally, Madge walks in, and hands me the mockingjay pin she was wearing on her dress earlier. "I was thinking that you could use this as your token," she explains, and makes me promise to wear it into the arena. "It's a mockingjay. To me they symbolize freedom, but they might represent something different for you," she shyly explains. I flash her the best smile I can mannage. She kisses me on the cheek and says, "You have to win!"
I shake my head, not wanting to get her hopes up. Madge is always optimistic.
"You never know what could happen, Katniss! You might win! Or something else surprising might happen, against all odds!"
She smiles before leaving. But after she leaves, her words echo in my head.
"To me, they symbolise freedom, but they might represent something different for you"
"Something else surprising might happen, Against All Odds."
YOU ARE READING
Against All Odds
FanfictionWhat if the games had happened differently? What if Katniss had caught the eye of not only Peeta, but another blonde boy as well? And what if, against all odds, she grows to like him? Who will be a pawn, just another piece in a sick twisted game, an...
