Fire and Ash
A/N I have changed Katniss and Peeta's Age by one year making them both 17 by the 74th Games and Prim's age is reduced by one year making her 12 by the 74th games, also I do not own the songs they are owned by their respected owners and companies.
The 69th Hunger Games are vastly approaching and in District Twelve life is about to get tougher for the Everdeen family as Ash Everdeen an average eighteen year old boy from the Seam faces his last ever reaping, Will he make it through the turbulent times ahead. As a brave girl once said "Fire is catching" and for Ash he will walk into the smoke and come out completely changed.
Capitol
"So this is your first year as Head Gamemaker, do you feel nervous about living up to the expectations from your predecessors?" Caesar Flickerman asks with dyed hair and make-up on his face as he looks across at the seat where Octavian Bleake in a chequered rainbow coloured suit with his neatly trimmed beard and comb over hairstyle is sitting back relaxed basking in the attention from the live-audience and from the rest of Panem which is now focussed solely towards him.
"I believe that this year we will see the tributes face adversity with many unique elements being added to this year's games, to answer your question I don't feel nervous as I have waited for this moment my entire life and now that I am here I plan to give you a games that no one has ever seen" Octavian finishes waving at the audience and bowing at the screaming fans waiting for Caesar to excuse him so he can exit to go to another capitol show to give pretty much the exact same answer.
"There you have it folks! Please show our appreciation for our new Head Gamemaker, Octavian Bleake!" Caesar shouts out to the audience whilst bursting into his traditional laugh. He quickly recovers and shakes Octavian's hand before letting the Head Gamemaker off the stage.
"What did you think of that ladies and gentlemen? This year's Hunger Games seem to be looking bound for extraordinary scenes. All that's left are for the tributes to be reaped and the arena to be finished and we will begin the 69th Annual Hunger Games!" Caesar finishes with another loud laugh which sets off the rest of the audience in to a fit of applause and screaming.
District Twelve: - Ash Everdeen
Today was possibly the worst day of any kid from the Seam in district twelve, even more so for the older kids. Despite this being my last eligible year my name was in the reaping bowl more times than I'd like, 42 times. The odds were not in my favour as our illustrious district escort Effie Trinket would say.
It was currently early morning and I was sleeping on what remained of our rather seasoned couch in the living room/dining room/kitchen of our home when I heard my little sister Katniss scream in her shared bedroom with my smallest sister Prim who was currently out like a light bulb in our district. I abandoned the couch, quickly stretched my aching limbs and went to my sisters joined bedroom.
I saw Katniss sitting up with a look of pure horror and sweat matting her hair and forehead, I quickly went over to her and wrapped my arms around her as she rested her head into the crook of my neck; Silently stroking her head until she spoke to me.
"It was me, I was reaped" she said sobbing a little whilst trying to remain what little composure she had left after being woken up from an experience no child or adult should ever have to encounter.
"I know Kitty-Kat but it isn't and won't be you, your name is in there once out of thousands. Besides whose going to look after little Prim if it's you? No my little rascal it won't be. You will be fine" I say jokingly whilst rubbing her back gently successfully calming down my sister.
"Can you sing to me like pa did, Ash?" Katniss asked giving me the wounded puppy dog eyes, I sighed internally. This little girl had me wrapped around her finger and she knew it.
"Sure thing Kat but you must get back to bed" I said whilst tucking her back in to her bed. Thinking about a song that wouldn't remind her of our father, he died earlier this year in a mine accident along with the Hawthorne's who live a few doors down. Life is hard in twelve between mining accidents and the devastating hunger in harsh winters evens our population at around 10,000 a very small amount compared to others so we are told in school. District eleven is supposedly around thirteen times bigger than ours.
"I remember tears streaming down your face Just close your eyes Don't you dare look out your window Just close your eyes
When I said, I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Darling, everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby
Even when the music's gone
Gone
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Just close your eyes
You'll be alright
Come morning light,
You and I'll be safe and sound..."
I finish the song to see that Katniss is successfully asleep; I close my eyes and wipe the tears away from them. That song always makes me cry as that was the song that Pa would sing to mom and then to me when I would get scared or nervous especially when the reapings were fast approaching I would find the necessary courage to keep going and to look strong after the song for my family.
I look outside the window briefly seeing the sun on the horizon which means that I should probably prepare to go and get some early morning hunting done so I can make sure that mom, Katniss and Prim all have something to eat if I don't make it back from the reaping and am sent to the Capitol to be slaughtered for their amusement, I sigh to myself when will the barbarism end? When Snow dies? When the Districts rebel again? No there's too much at stake for another uprising and we couldn't fight and expect to win without losing the land that we live on.
I leave my pondering and move to the table grabbing Pa's old hunting jacket finding it fits perfectly around my six foot two build and quickly move out of the house towards the meadow on the edge of the Seam, which is surrounded by an electrified fence which is rarely on as power is a rare commodity in our district and is only supplied to our district when the Hunger Games are being broadcasted. I have atleast until 10am until the power is restored to the fence.
I move out of the meadow to the weak spot in the fence and I crawl through it just snagging the wire, I push the loose part of the fence so I won't catch it on the way back. Especially if I have game with me, I move into the woods that expand and surround twelve and onto the lightly trodden path that leads towards the secretly stashed weapons that Pa made. I look up and into the trees admiring the beauty of nature, this serenity allows me to connect with myself and feel at peace. Also allowing me to connect with my inner hunter and move to the hollowed out log to retrieve my hunting spear and my bow which is alongside my Pa's, looking at the bow brings back the memories of us out in these very woods hunting. Shaking the thoughts away I move onto the tree across the small clearing to get the arrows from inside the tree.
I move through the trees breathing in the unpolluted air which is a stark contrast to the gloomy dust filled air of the Seam, people say that if someone were to create a big enough spark that all of the district would go up in flames. Its rubbish but it scares the kids not to play with fire and in a community where all of the houses are made of wood it's a good thing that kids aren't given an incentive to try, not that any of the children from the Seam could actually get hold of matches... they were too valuable.
I looked at the surrounding area and looked at the forest floor and saw tracks and took off in that direction carefully placing my steps so I would make as little noise as possible, I flew through this part of the forest knowing that in here I was free and I was the predator searching for its prey. The only types of animal that I considered to be a threat were bears as I had been attacked by one once when I was younger, they were powerful animals and also lightning fast as I learnt the hard way and was rewarded with claw marks on my back. Luckily I had found this old spear on the ground which I had picked up and miraculously speared the creature through its heart killing it instantly, my father had come bursting into the clearing and gripped me so tightly I thought I would be crushed. The bear had fed us for a few weeks and we even made a bedcover with its thick fur which was placed over Katniss and Prim at this point in time reminding me that I would have to protect them.
I stopped when I couldn't see the tracks as they had gone almost as if the animal had leapt over the thick bush atleast 6 feet in front of me which kept me hidden from what was behind it. This was a good sign; the only animal that could leap such a height in a sprint would be a deer. If worse comes to worst then atleast I could get enough money for my family not to need to take tesserae.
I peered around a tree just to the side of the bush and saw a deer grazing with its side shown to me, I could easily hit a vital organ and kill it. I grabbed my bow from my back and slowly drew an arrow from the quiver, placed it in the correct position and drew back slowly making sure to even out my breathing and slowly stop. I aimed for the deer's neck and then it looked up as if startled by a distant noise; I hid for a few seconds making sure to keep an eye on the animal. It slowly went back to eating as if cautiously waiting for a threat to immerge from the trees, carefully I placed my bow against the side of the tree and took aim so I was sure the arrow wouldn't miss not that I have for a long time. Before any other interruptions could scare the deer into bolting, I let the arrow fly and before the deer had time to react it was far too late the arrow had pierced the neck of the deer cutting the main artery into the head of the deer.
I now made my way towards the deer to quickly claim the kill before another animal came and took away my hard work, the way of the world out here is far different than that of Panem. If you need something out here you have to be strong enough to take it. I started to skin the deer when I heard something approach from behind me; I quickly got up picking up my newly made hunting spear styled like the older one and prepared myself for a fight. He came through the bush I had hid behind panting as if he was being chased by a legion of peacekeepers.
"Hey Brail" I said to my friend making fun of our first encounter out here in the woods.
"How arrre you Ash" Gale Hawthorne replied. He was a year older than Katniss and was practically out here every day due to his family needing someone to support them; his father had died in the same mining accident that had killed my father. I had found him setting up snares in a clearing and asked who he was and in his response sounded like he said brail so I sometimes call him it to annoy him when I see him.
"I'm alright Gale how is your family doing?" I ask trying to keep a conversation going as with Gale he doesn't talk much to others including myself which is usually alright but when you need to get your mind of the reaping it does feel good being distracted from the upcoming games, that's partially why I hunt besides to keep my family clothed and fed as Ma has been in a state of shutdown from Pa's death. I understand to an extent as to why she is in a state but to leave your three children without anything; no support, no money and even no future. It is no secret that I hunt in the district especially not in the Seam. How else would a family stay afloat if no one worked to pay for the essential items needed to stay alive, life in district twelve was a struggle and the peacekeepers knew this which caused them to look the other way to places and activities such as the Hob and hunting in the woods. Heck the peacekeepers are where I made most of the money to provide for the family. I would be working in the mines after the reaping and then I would be able to make sure that Katniss and Prim wouldn't grow up taking out tesserae like I had to.
"You checked your traps yet, Gale? Other animals might try and grab the easy prey. I'll come over to you once I got what I need from the deer here and I'll make sure to get some more for your family as well" I say as I know that he needs all the help he can get, back when we first met each other I used to try and get him to take some of the extras that we wouldn't sell or eat before the meat went off but he was stubborn and proud like most in the Seam, I used to have to give it directly to his mother Hazelle whom was friends with my mother. She would always thank me telling me I was too kind but with her and the four children to provide for and her only job being as a clothes washer I knew that despite how difficult we had it in our household that she also needed the support. Gale nodded his head and set off to where he set up his snares so I began extracting the useful parts of the deer for selling and for mine and Gale's family.
I make my way over to Gale's snare location which is located nearer the fence which is ideal as I would have left the woods after getting extremely lucky, I guess the odds are in my favour today. Pushing the thought to the back of my mind I head off towards Gale in a light jog eager to get to the hob and the butchers maybe I'll try the bakery see if they want something, last time I went there was when my Pa took me after one of our hunts.
First I will go to the butcher's shop, so I can get the most money for the best parts as the butcher is very fair with her trades as long as the meat is of high standard and by the look of the deer I would say it was fairly healthy. Then I will stop off at the hob to barter some of the other valuable parts such as the hide and some of the smaller areas of the deer that didn't have as much meat. No one party in the hob had enough money to buy all of the deer meat as it was a rare commodity and there were less people in the hob today probably due to families wanting to stay together for as long as possible.
I remember the first time I walked into the hob with the bear meat ahead of my Pa who had stopped to talk to one of his coal mining buddies and I hadn't noticed. I was almost completely crushed by people who wanted the meat, claws and whatever else they could get their hands on. I understand the system there now and that you go to who has the supplies you need and then you trade instead of walking in and displaying what you have unless you have got a stall, but we don't so I have to initiate deals. I taught Gale this and showed him who might be interested in what but let him handle the deals himself otherwise he wouldn't learn.
I went and put my bow and hunting spear back into their respective places and walked the short distance to where Gale's snares were. The forest floor was covered in fallen leaves, which was perfect for setting up traps as the animals wouldn't see them and the trees were fairly tall which allowed for the caught animal to be hoisted up high out of reach from other predators. Gale was good with making these traps, much better than I was. I saw that his traps had caught two rabbits and a squirrel, not enough to sell and also keep some for his family.
"We can always come out again after the reaping, huh?" I suggest and he just nods his head and puts the meat in his game bag whilst holding a bag of berries in his hand which tell me who he's goes to first.
"You going to the Mayor's house? I'll meet you outside the Hob ok?" I ask receiving a nod in response.
We walk back to the fence together but then split up going through the meadow him heading for the far side of the richer part of the district, the merchant area. Whilst I headed towards the butchers which was closer to the seam to sell as much of the meat as possible to her, I knocked on the back door. You see merchants talk about each other and if they saw me walking in with meat they wouldn't buy her produce despite the fact that this meat is probably fresher and better than the rest of her stock.
"Hello Ash what have you got for me today?" The butcher replied smiling. She had weathered blue eyes and blonde hair as well as rough looking hands despite her being in her early thirties and from the merchant area, life was tough for everyone in this district and the merchant class was no exception. Only a few merchant families had it going perfect and all of them worked at the justice building.
"I have deer meat, I came straight here so you get the first pick of what you want" I said showing her the meat in the game bag I kept for her to look at first, she took the bag out of my hands and gestured for me to come inside which I did promptly shutting the door as I came in and standing off to the side to let her examine the meat as this was her speciality.
"I'll give you 2 gold pieces, 5 silver and 10 bronze pieces for everything in the first bag and I'll give you a few pieces of meat from a pig that's about to go off that no one's interested in, as I know the games are coming up no one will want to eat them and I feel as if you need it more than I do" she said looking at me with sympathy towards the end. Once again everyone knows what goes on around this district and the fact that I have had to support my family since I was twelve even when my Pa was still alive up until now where I was one of the most likely kids to get reaped. I glanced back towards the butcher who was looking at me expectantly for an answer.
"That's a deal, thank you so much" I said grabbing her hand and shaking it this was probably one of the best trades that I have ever made despite it being more of a pity trade. I would take a blow to my pride so my sisters and Ma could eat.
"Let me just go grab the meat and I'll be right back" off she disappeared into what I guessed was the pantry and came back with four slices of pork which I would have to hunt and kill atleast three squirrels five if they were really small. The pork didn't look off but I just went with it as she's the one who has more experience with meat and its life expectancy.
"Thank you once again, Mrs" I said opening the backdoor leaving it slightly ajar before going outside waiting to be dismissed.
"No problem, Venison is quite sort after so if you happen on anymore don't hesitate to come back in the future. See you next time" she said before walking to the door and politely pushing me out.
That went better than expected. Now off to the Hob I walked around the back gardens of the merchant's area and walked through the meadow and came out on the outskirts of the Seam and walked straight for the Hob which was in the centre of the market area for the Seam. The Hob is essentially a black market where all the things that the Capitol don't want us doing is bought and sold, it is setup in an abandoned coal storage warehouse and is frequented by those who make their living by selling goods such as alcohol, building supplies who obtain the wood by chopping down trees around the Victors Village. There are so many stalls selling different things that you could try and visit every single stall and you would still be here the next week.
I traded with some peacekeepers selling the meat and antlers too which I guess they will hang up in the barracks and boast that they killed it, but I don't care as long as I get paid I'm happy to get rid of something which I would usually struggle to sell to anyone else in the hob. After dealing with the peacekeepers I went towards the textiles stall that sold thread for making clothes or repairing them, I remember Katniss telling me the other week that we needed some to repair some of Prim's clothing as well as some of hers. Prim's clothing was once Katniss' so they had a tendency to rip easier so we need to try and look after Prim's clothes until she grows a little more. I asked for some supplies and paid her with some of the coins I got from the peacekeepers, I was moving past the stalls on my way outside when I looked to my side and saw a golden pin that caught my eye. I went back towards it and picked it up and saw that it also had writing on it around the outside of the rims "My little mockingjay".
"How much for this pin" I asked the elderly woman who was manning the till.
"You keep it" she replied I nodded my thanks to her and went off to wait for Gale, leaning against the wall outside of the building for around ten minutes before he arrived.
"You got much left to sell Gale?" I ask as he leans next to me looking tired from all the moving around today.
"Just got some rabbits to sell to Greasy Sae and that's it, you can go back to your place if you want and I'll walk down with you when we all go to the reaping" he says I just nod and head off to the shack we call home but before I do that I head over to the Hawthorne's house before Gale gets back knocking on the door waiting for Hazelle to come and answer. She opens the door and greets me with a hug and asks how we are all coping.
"Katniss had a nightmare this morning but I calmed her down, I also got some deer meat for you and your family it isn't much but it's all I can spare" I say handing over half of the deer meat I had kept for our families. Heck we might as well live under one roof with how we all help each other out. I hope Katniss continues this if I got reaped today so that Prim has someone who will look out for her.
"This is too much Ash you should keep some more of this Posy doesn't eat that much anyway, thank you so much" she replies handing me back a slice or two.
"Gale has taken out tesserae this year for all of us and I told him not to, the child doesn't know how serious this is. If he gets reaped at his age he has no chance of coming back" Hazelle broke down there and started crying, I grabbed her into a hug.
"It's fine, his name is in there six times my name is in there a lot more than that and if he gets reaped I'll volunteer for him, could never imagine me working down a mine anyways" I say trying to comfort her and she stops sobbing and tightens her hold on me.
"Ever since the accident, I have viewed you, Katniss and Prim as if you were my own and I know how you feel about your mother and all but it was rough for me as well. She really loved him just as she loves you all she just hasn't gotten the right help you know" she says and I understand what she is saying I just can't believe that she left the running of the family to me, ok I was almost an adult but how was I going to help Katniss and Prim eat when I was supposed to be in school, or in a years time down a in a dark, cold mine all day. I just wished that she would try and chip in, just speaking to us and interacting with Prim who wasn't sure what was going on at the time and to comfort Katniss when she needed it. Instead I had to do all of these things whilst handle my own grief with losing my role model and Pa.
"I better make sure than Katniss is up and that Ma can atleast pretend she's watching over Prim" I say before leaving Hazelle who gives me a sad look before returning to her madhouse leaving me to enter the crumbling house near the end of the row.
I see that Katniss and Prim are still asleep; I nudge the pair of them almost getting punched in the face by Katniss. I chuckle before yanking her arm and putting her on my the back of my shoulders making sure not to smack her head on the sides of the house before spinning her around and placing her on the ground then watching her try and steady herself at which she fails and falls back on the bed before launching herself towards me, she was a fighter to the core, a true Everdeen. I grabbed her mid leap into a hug before whispering into her ear.
"You need to get ready into the dress and come back and help me get Prim's hair ready" I say and she laughs at the end of that remembering my first attempt at braiding which didn't go well to put it lightly and moves out of the room to get ready. I turned back towards Prim smiling.
"Wake up princess, you need to get changed" I say lightly shaking my smallest sister. Prim is eight years old and possibly the cutest little thing in the entire district. Katniss may have me wrapped around her finger but Prim could convince an army of peacekeepers to march against the Capitol and she never fails to amaze me, I was planning on buying her a goat for her birthday and I had my eye on one. It wasn't the healthiest looking goat but if I could get it for a reasonable price then it would definitely make the money back. I would get Katniss to buy it later to help her learn some social skills; the girl doesn't talk to anyone other than me and Prim.
"Come on up you get our golden little angel" I say trying to coerce her out of bed to get dressed, prim is also the only child to look like Ma with her blonde hair and blue eyes. She used to get bullied at her school due to her being from the Seam so she didn't fit in with the merchants and since she looked like a kid from the merchants she wasn't liked by the Seam children at first. I sorted it out in person by talking to several of the kids older siblings that if I heard about one insult about her I would make them regret it. Needless to say most of the kids got the message. Don't pick on Prim.
Finally she sat up and got out of bed, slipping into some of her normal clothes. She was safe for a few more years so she would stand at the observation area at the back with those who had family members inside the reaping. After she finished getting dressed she turned to me and smiled.
"How do I look?" she said
"Like the most beautiful princess in the world" I replied giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead to which she responded by give me a squeeze as if trying to crush me and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Don't go to sleep again angel" I warned smiling and I heard her laugh.
"Katniss she's ready for the hair beautifying" I said smiling at the end and Katniss came in smiling whilst Prim began giggling.
"Come on little duck tuck your tail in" Katniss said whilst putting her shirt into her skirt, she raised her head and looked at me and the smile disappeared.
"Ma wants to speak to you in the kitchen. I can finish Prim's hair and get her ready for today so don't worry" she said nervously. Before she could carry on with Prim's hair I leant down and pulled the pin out of my back pocket before putting it onto her dress.
"What is this?" she said looking at the pin with curiosity
"It's a mockingjay pin, to protect you" I say kissing her forehead before leaving the room to see what my mother wants, I couldn't remember the last time Ma had spoken this year so I entered the living room to find her standing there with reaping clothing and a sad look on her face.
"It was your fathers, I thought you might want to wear it" she said opening up, did she not know what she put us through I thought. I put on my clothes to go to reaping whilst I was listening to her first words for nearly a year. The hurt, anger, rage all boiled over and the raging inferno of my emotions were set loose upon her.
"That's the first thing you say after you completely abandon and ignore us and left us to fend for ourselves. I have had to look after everyone here as well as deal with Pa's death, we all suffered Ma but we needed you and you left us with nothing. No comforting words, no food and no security. Poor Prim has had to lose both her parents at the age of eight and Katniss has been destroyed by this, she doesn't talk to anyone at school and I have had to comfort everyone and work to provide enough so we don't all starve to death whilst you stare out a window unaware to our suffering. The least you could have done was help with the girls and help around the house" I say with tears in my eyes towards the end. But they are all wasted I suspect she won't stay like this very long, she will probably give up again and go back to her room to stare out of the window. I would just have to get Katniss in half an hour.
Chapter finished
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