Katniss Everdeen POV:
As I lay here after shifting back in my human form form I think of what happened in those games. How they ended. How I won (in one way or another). My mind wanders to my last few moments in the arena of the 74th Hunger Games.
****************
Flashback:
“Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy- fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been
revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed,” he says. “Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.”
There’s a small burst of static and then nothing more. I stare at Peeta in disbelief as the truth sinks in. They
never intended to let us both live. This has all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most
dramatic showdown in history. And like a fool, I bought into it.
“If you think about it, it’s not that surprising,” he says softly. I watch as he painfully makes it to his
feet. Then he’s moving toward me, as if in slow motion, his hand is pulling the knife from his belt —
Before I am even aware of my actions, my bow is loaded with the arrow pointed straight at his heart.
Peeta raises his eyebrows and I see the knife has already left his hand on its way to the lake where it
splashes in the water. I drop my weapons and take a step back, my face burning in what can only be shame.
“No,” he says. “Do it.” Peeta limps toward me and thrusts the weapons back in my hands.
“I can’t, I say. “I won’t.”
“Do it. Before they send those mutts back or something. I don’t want to die like Cato,” he says.
“Then you shoot me,” I say furiously, shoving the weapons back at him. “You shoot me and go home
and live with it!”And as I say it, I know death right here, right now would be the easier of the two.
“You know I can’t,” Peeta says, discarding the weapons.“Fine, I’ll go first anyway.” He leans down
and rips the bandage off his leg, eliminating the final barrier between his blood and the earth.
“No, you can’t kill yourself,” I say. I’m on my knees, desperately plastering the bandage back onto his wound.
“Katniss,” he says. “It’s what I want.”
“You’re not leaving me here alone,” I say. Because if he dies, I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the
rest of my life in this arena trying to think my way out.
“Listen,” he says pulling me to my feet. “We both know they have to have a victor. It can only be one of
us. Please, take it. For me.” And he goes on about how he loves me, what life would be without me but
I’ve stopped listening because his previous words are trapped in my head, thrashing desperately around.
We both know they have to have a victor.
Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be
executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.
If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we
were ...
My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it. Peeta sees it and his hand clamps on my wrist.
“No, I won’t let you.”
“Trust me,” I whisper. He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets me go. I loosen the top of the pouch
and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm. Then I fill my own. “On the count of three?”
Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently. “The count of three,” he says.
We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked tight.
“Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” he says.
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a
signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. “One.” Maybe I’m wrong. “Two.”Maybe they don’t care if we
both die. “Three!” It’s too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth, taking one last look at the
world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare.
The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!”
***************
That was how it all ended. Or so I thought. Back then I didnt know that I would be taken back to the arena just a year later... or that Peeta would once again be by my side.
A/N:
I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long but my mind completely blanked and I was doing a LOT of reading (and I mean a LOT 😂). But well, here it is, chapter 1 of 'Rising' - I DID say I would update before september didnt I. I do now have an idea for the plot so hopefully I'll be able to update sooner with chapter 2 🙃. Please vote and comment. Don't be ghosts.
YOU ARE READING
Rising
De TodoOnce she was their mockingjay, now she's their pheonix. A story in which Katniss Everdeen finds herself transformed into a beautiful creature and helps save the world of Panem from another Snow's clutches. Little does she know it could cost her what...
