Chapter 1 - Prologue

The stories have been handed down over generation through the centuries. Each culture tells them differently, but the content of the stories are all the same. Sometimes people disappear, loved ones, children, wives girlfriends, husbands and loaners. They travel, or so the stories say, not to somewhere else, but to sometime else. Sometimes the missing come back; days later, weeks later, months later. They come back changed, perhaps different, telling fantastical tales or horrible nightmarish sagas, or not saying anything at all having gone mad, sometimes they don't ever return. In Scotland, the stories talk of the stones having the power to transport people through time. It is said that these people received the ability from the faerie folk, that have blessed or in some cases perhaps cursed; humans with an anomaly in their blood giving them the ability to travel through the stones. Places like Craig na dun or Stonehenge are said to be such places where the ancients marked sports on earth. Spots where there is a convergence, a wrinkle that allow travel to occur. It is said that Egyptians built pyramids on these locations; the Incas built them as well. The ancient Greeks built temples such as the Parthenon to their deities, the Norse temples such as the Uppsala to their gods. The Chinese and Indian cultures had their own ways to mark the spots of convergence and their own gods to blame the loss of their people on. The Native American Indians marked the spots where their spirits held power with trees and stone.

The stories are cautionary tales. Remember children they are places to avoid at the full moon. The tales are passed down from elders to children, from shaman to the tribe, from medicine woman to mothers to children over bonfire, over hearth, over drink. The stories get written down so they become part of daily life of stories of tradition of religion. Time passes and the stories meant to caution become fables, become myths, become something ancient people believed in. The cell is discovered, Einstein and Madame Curie pave the way, and the age of science and reason relegate tales of caution to fanciful bedtime stories, meant to entertain not caution. Faeries are banished to the tales of princesses and princes and happily ever after. And it's the 21st century and stones that mark the convergence are places of interest to tourists. And there is always an explanation when someone goes missing, even when they come back.

At the age of ten Katniss Everdeen felt she was invincible. It was the 1990's her parents weren't rich, but they weren't poor either. Her dad was a school teacher, her mom a nurse and they lived in a small town just west of Boston. Her father was mostly Wompanoag and her mom was the typical American beauty, blonde hair, blue eyes of Scottish descent, but with enough other stuff to say she was American. She and her perfect little sister Primrose were a perfect mix of her parents, although they each had their own flavor as her mother likes to put it. Katniss inherited the dark lush straight hair, the piercing grey eyes and the slightly darker skin tone of her father, while her sister was fair all over like her mother. It was their bodies and their facial features that marked them as sisters and showed the beautiful mixture of their genetics. The girls were lithe and athletic, built for running through the woods, their bodies strong yet graceful as the deer that ran besides their ancestors. Their facial features were delicate like their mother and they had a certain softness and curve to their athletic bodies that set them apart from their more pure Native American counterparts.

James Everdeen always told the girls they were lucky he was more than 80% Native American and it was verified and documented, that meant they were more than 25% Native American, which gave them access to government grants for college. "It is not charity to utilize the opportunities given to us because of our descent. It is reparation for the injustice done to your ancestors and accepting that is not wrong, but honors the memory of those we have lost. Work hard in school to take advantage of these opportunities to give yourself a better life, just as I have done." James had been one of the tribe that had taken advantage of the grants; he had gone to school and ended up with a MA in history and education. He was the history teacher in their high school and had made sure that his daughters were not only aware of their ancestry but their mother's as well. He spent time with Katniss in the woods (Prim was only 6) teaching her to track, bow hunt and to appreciate the bounty of nature but to respect it as well. He taught them to sing to nature as his family did, they were 'singers more beautiful than birds' and such had a special place in the tribe. The girls spent time during the summers at the Wampanoag reservation were Katniss and Prim made many friends with their relatives and other's in the tribe. Katniss and Prim were raised Catholic and Wampanoag a combination of their parents' beliefs, and although Katniss felt more of a draw to her spirit world, she respected her mother's Catholicism.

Katniss had many friends of both Native American and American, her father's best friend Hunter Hawthorne was a car mechanic; he owned and ran the local garage. He and his wife Hazelle, who was also Wampanoag, lived in the same town west of Boston, three doors down to be exact, and the girls were friends with their four children. Gale was the oldest and 2 years her senior, Rory was two years her junior and Vick was the same age as Prim, Posy their youngest and their only girl had just been born. Katniss was best friends with Gale, but her best female friend was Madge Undersee. Madge was a girl in her year that was Caucasian and the daughter of a prominent business man and family of old money, blue blood to be exact.

The most influential thing in Katniss's life was not her heritage or her friends, but the love of her parents. The love that her parents had for each other was epic and something very comforting. Her mother's parents were not happy that she married a man of race, or race other than their own that is. It was ironic that they called themselves American yet looked down on the Native American that was their son-in-law. Either way with or without their permission Lilly married James and was left without parents. It was their love that influenced Katniss, she watched and observed her parent's marriage, it became the standard that she would hold to, why get married without that love, that dedication. Katniss knows what can exist and she won't settle for anything less.

At the age of eleven Katniss saw the ugly side of life and the hard side of love, of soul mates. Cray Matthews a local elderly bachelor, who her mother had always told her to stay away from, was discovered to have sexually assaulted a 15 year old girl on school property. Her father, who had been working late detention had heard the calls for help and had discovered the man raping the girl. After rescuing her by knocking out Cray, he involved the police. Cray was arrested and charged, but out on bail he stormed the local donut shop one Saturday morning, where James, Hunter and other men liked to get their morning coffee and town gossip. Her father was shot and badly injured and in the ensuing chaos, Cray took his own life. Her father went into a coma and lost half a leg.

Her family was devastated, her mother was wrecked. For months while her father was in a coma recovering her mother didn't work dedicating herself to his recovery. Katniss took to foraging and hunting for food as her father taught her to keep her family fed. But it was her father's brother Haymitch that stepped in to help. He cared for the girls and got Lilly psychiatric help while her father recovered and when the summer ended and he came out of the coma and her dad was able to return to the school to teach, although the limp he had from the prosthetic slowly became less noticeable it never went away.

The years went by and Katniss and Prim worked hard in school, Katniss was valedictorian of her class and went on to win a place at Harvard along with a full scholarship from the Native American Scholarship fund. Her best friend Madge also was accepted at Harvard and the two girls went off together to begin their lives. Her other best friend Gale Hawthorne had graduated two years earlier, had decided to stay home and take over the family business, he was angry when Katniss accepted the scholarship money. Chastising her, he made it clear that she was "accepting charity from the government that oppressed her people".

It was at her graduation party that Gale told her that he had developed feelings for her. Katniss was stunned, she had no idea that her best friend liked her like that and she had no idea how she felt, so she did what she thought was right, she put him off. Katniss explained that she had to concentrate on school that she hadn't really thought of having a boyfriend, perhaps they should think about it and revisit this the next summer when she is home for summer break. Gale agreed saying he would wait, Katniss told him not too, that if he felt something for someone he should explore it; they should make sure that their feelings are real.

After a grueling year at school where Katniss made Dean's list both semesters she came home to find Gale asking her the same question. So she tried, they both tried, but the relationship was not what she wanted in a relationship. The night that she lost her virginity to him was the night she knew. Katniss loved her friend, but she knew in her heart they didn't have what her parents have, but it was easy, familiar and she didn't want to hurt him. They continued having a causal relationship for her entire remaining three years at Harvard. They both saw other people but always came back to each other in the summer that is until her senior year.

Katniss continued her friendship with Madge, who also attended Harvard, living with her all four years. Their sophomore year they added another roommate, Johanna Mason a girl who complimented them both and made for a trio of friends that rivaled the three musketeers. Katniss majored in molecular biology and worked as an undergrad under the tutelage of Professor Carl Beetee, it was rare that an undergrad would get a position in the lab, but Katniss was top of her class. So when Dr. Beetee inquired as to what her plans were for after graduation it didn't surprise him that Katniss had applied to graduate schools.

What did surprise Katniss was his interest in one of the Universities she had applied to, the University of Oxford in England. Apparently the renowned professor Dr. Carla Wiress was his cousin, "I'll put in a good word for you." Katniss thanked him profusely exclaiming that she didn't want to impose and that he had already done so much for her already. "Nonsense, dear girl, you are like a granddaughter to me, it's nice to see someone who is talented and works so hard as you have for me all these years go forward with their life, that is a reason I became a professor, to mentor after all."

Katniss was shocked and elated when she got the letter that she was in the PhD program at Oxford, but she was knocked speechless when she read the accompanying scholarship letter. Not only was her tuition, books, and room and board paid for (although she was to be a dorm monitor), she was given some money for incidentals. Prim had just been accepted into the 7 year med program at Boston University on full scholarship so she did not need to stay for her.

Directly after Madge, Johanna and Katniss had graduated from Harvard they had moved into an apartment in the Back Bay. The building (as well as several surrounding buildings) is owned by Madge's father, rent is cheap (well almost non-existent) and the apartment is large for the three girls. The reactions from her friends and family when she told them she was headed to England ranged from deliriously happy (her mom, dad and Prim), super happy and excited (Madge and Johanna), grudgingly proud (Uncle Haymitch) to angry (Gale).

Apparently Gale was under the impression that after she finished her four years 'at that snobby school' she would get a job and marry him, have his children and settle down. She saw 'settle down' as settling, in the end Katniss broke it off. She had tried to tell him over the years that their relationship was not long term, so how could he not support her? What kind of friend wasn't happy for her, the opportunity to get a PhD at one of the most renowned Universities in the world, free of charge? Gale was mad; he claimed he didn't know they weren't long term, clearly ignoring the times she reminded him where she told him. He felt their love was a forever and destined they were soul mates, she told him it was not. He told her he loved her, was in love with her and had been for a long time; she told him she loved him as a good friend, but that she was not in-love with him and never had been. He told her that everyone expected them to get married, that her family wanted them to be together. He said he would wait, she told him not too.

As Katniss had departed for oxford, Madge and Johanna said they would keep her room available, only using it for guests or the occasional short-term sublet. During her time at Oxford, Katniss traveled home during Christmas break only twice, she made friends, dated a few men and even thought she fell in love once. At the end of three wonderful years at Oxford in the lab of Dr. Wiress, Katniss submitted her thesis. Another 8 months and she had her PHD in physiology and was an expert in mitochondria with a job offer at Boston College. It was April and she had a job to report to in mid-August, her dream job teaching in a University, it was an instructorship, but still it was faculty track. It was her mother who suggested the trip, a relaxing jaunt through the countryside of Scotland. And why not, she was there and she could get those rubbings her mother wanted. She could see the places in the stories she had heard so much about. She could visit her 'clan's' castle on the isle of mull. And with very little convincing from her family followed by a promise from Madge and Johanna that they would have her room ready for her in their apartment, Katniss mailed all her belongings back to Boston, packed up her Kelty backpack and took a train to the North, to the land of the faeries and all the bedtime stories her mother had told her over the years.