A Dandelion in the Spring
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“Oh, i-I din’t know,” he said feeling stupid. He should’ve of known not to grab random berries. He looked around the station. All the plants made him wonder abut District 11. Then he thought of the little girl that no one volunteered for. Rue. Just then he saw the plant Rue. He smiled at the irony. He knew she was namedafter that, being from District 11. How he hated being from District 12. They’re don’t go into the mines until they’re 18 and that was too late to use that knowledge in the Hunger Games.
Katniss studied his face and realized that he was telling the truth. Of course the baker’s son wouldn’t know anything about nightlock; they didn’t have to worry about it. It occasionally came up in the woods, so she was well familiarized with it. She began to feel bad and frowned a little bit. “Sorry,” she whispered to him. It wasn’t fair to take this out on him. It’s not like it was Peeta’s fault that Katniss was stuck here and was going to be forced into the Death Games.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
Clove had thought that what if she was in District 12? She was kind of putting herself into Katniss’ shoes. She actually had sincere for this girl, shockingly. Clove had no idea in why she acting strangely, but it felt weird… different. Clove never had the heart to actually feel bad for someone. Until now. Was it really the time to actually show considerate feelings for someone? Come on, Clove. This was the Death Games. Not the Happy Games. This isn’t about making friends. It’s about killing people.
“So, uh, what’s District 12 like? Rubbish, I reckon?” she asked and tilted her head slightly to the left. Be tough, Clove. Tough. Don’t be a wimp. Intimidate this girl from District 12. You know that you can do it. “Yeah, I’m all right, I guess,” she said with a slight smirk. She liked it when people noticed in what she was good at. She didn’t get that at home. Nobody really cared of what Clove was good at. “What are you good at? I didn’t get to really watch you, I was more focusing on knife throwing… and someone.” Cato. Oh, Cato. He amused her. He was really strong… and that attracted Clove the most.
Clove shook her head and then wiped the corner of her mouth. Clove didn’t know what was getting her off track today? Probably the lack of food and sleep. That didn’t really sit well with her. Great. Oh well. Clove will just have to deal with it, won’t she?
A smirk grew across Katniss’ face. “Something like that,” she said in reply to Clove’s hasty District 12 remark. No, it wasn’t the nicest district in Panem. In fact, it was the poorest and probably had the most “rubbish” inside of it. But it was home. It was where Prim and her mother and Gale were at. Thinking about District 12 made her feel homesick. She always dreamed of getting out of that place, and never imagined the day where she’d actually miss it.
“Umm….” she muttered out. Clove was actually starting to be nice to her. Why? Was she actually a friendly person beneath that tough exterior? No, Katniss reminded her self. She’s trying to plan your death. Instead of admitting that she was handy with a bow and arrow, she replied simply. “Nothing, really. You know us District 12 tributes.” She smiled innocently, but behind it was a strong force. She was being cunning and deceitful and it felt good.
Katniss didn’t know what Clove meant about someone. Did she have a crush on somebody when she was going to be forced into the arena to kill them? “Someone?” Katniss asked a little too nonchalantly. She thought of all the possible tributes it could be when one stood out. Cato. Of course. He was not only from District 2 as well, but was tall, muscular, and handsome. She felt for them, and immediately her mind went to the boy with the bread.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said with an awkward smile. He payed close attention to what she was saying so he wouldn’t have to go through that awkward stage again. Not only was Katniss pretty and could handle a weapon, she was also very smart. “So, if they have weird leaves they’re edible?” he asked jokingly. He looked through the area to try and find a unique one. He did find a Primrose, though. He pointed that one at to Katniss. He looked around and found a berrie that looked edible. “What’s that one,” he said pointing to the one that said ‘Nightlock’.
Katniss laughed at his joke. “Precisely,” she answered with a big grin on her face. She noticed that Peeta was pointing to a small, yet beautiful flower in the corner. It looked very familiar; she was sure that she’d seen them in District 12 before. She could almost here her father’s voice in her head. Primrose. Katniss gulped, thinking of her younger sister that she volunteered for. How was she holding up? Was her mother taking care of little Prim? So many questions flooded into her mind. Katniss shook it off and looked at the berry that Peeta picked up. “Don’t touch that!” She shouted at him instinctively. After swiping it out of his hand, she looked down, feeling embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said to him remorsefully. “That’s called nightlock, Peeta. Don’t eat that. It’ll kill you in a minute.”
(Source: katnissofpanem)
Does anyone want to para with me?
I’ll para with you! I have to go now, but I can start a thread or reply to you later.
Peeta was staring at Katniss. He barely notice what she was saying. Whe she turned back to him he snapped back to reality. “Yeah, sounds great,” he said. He barely knew any plants. He kknew that Katniss knew a lot of them. He sometimes sees her carrying around a plant identification sheet. Still the Capitol could add whatever they wanted. He thought it was a good idea to go over there. He looked over at Katniss, only to see that she was already at the station. He quickly ran over thereafter her.
Once Katniss made the connection in her head that Peeta had been staring at her, her face felt turned red. She rarely ever blushed and was embarrassed by it. Katniss didn’t want Peeta to see how flushed she was, as well as the smile that was overcoming her lips. She started over for the plant station, not turning around to see if he was behind her. She looked up as she got there, noticing that he was just now heading over.
She glanced up at him when he finally made it to the station. “Nice of you to join me,” she said with a laugh. Sarcasm was her mechanism for getting out of uncomfortable situations. Katniss wasn’t sure why, but she felt her heart skip a beat when Peeta joined her by her side. Together, they began looking at rare plant types. “This one’s a nettle,” she began. “They’re edible. Their most unique feature is the shape of the leaves.” Katniss ran her fingers down the side of one of the plants, looking up and over at him with a shy smile.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
“Thanks,” he smiled back. He took a deep breath and threw the knife. It landed right in the head of the dummy. He wasn’t aiming for it, but he acted like he was. He threw another one at a different dummy. He threw it and it landed inches away from the bulls-eye. He smiled widely. He threw another one, but it slipped and landed in the lower torso of the dummy. He ignored it. He threw a bunch more, one-by-one and they all missed the bulls-eye barely. Except for one. The very last one he threw hit the bulls-eye directly. Peeta was quite surprised. He went to retreive them.
Katniss’ eyes widened with shock. She was pretty sure her jaw dropped open as well, but tried to appear indifferent. “Wow,” she whispered, walking to where he was throwing the knives. “And you said you weren’t good with weapons.” This time she spoke in her normal volume and stature. Katniss folded her arms across her chest, smiling at him.
Her eyes scanned the rest of the training center. “Want to go over there?” Her index shot out of her hand, pointing to the station in the back corner. It taught the tributes how to identify different plants and herbs in the arena. If Katniss was going to die, she wanted to go down with a fight. She refused the possibility of accidentally killing herself. She looked back over at Peeta for his answer, noticing that his eyes were fixed on her.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
Clove was glad to intimidate people. It was what she did best… being intimidating and bringing pride to her district. She never thought that she was a monster. Besides, it wasn’t her fault that she was raised like that. She was better. More stronger than the other tributes. Clove wanted to scare people. She listened to Katniss introduce herself. The girl seemed unimpressed. Was she unimpressed that Clove was there? A smirk emerged on Clove’s face. Good.
“District 12…” Clove repeated in a quick breath. “Ah.” Of course Clove was in disgust of where this rift raft was from, but she didn’t exactly fully show it. District 12 was one of the shittiest Districts out there. Thankfully Clove didn’t belong there. This girl was obviously not a threat to Clove. She might have a strength, though. It might be knife throwing, like Clove, or maybe she can run easily? Whatever it was, Clove knew that she could take her. Clove snapped back to reality when Katniss asked her if she was from District 2. “Oh, yeah. I am from District 2. I did do this for basically all of my life. It’s not that bad, I mean, I guess fighting to death is kind of sick, but I can pull through, I hope.” She could. Clove knew that she could do this. She needed to prove to her parents that she was tough and she could do things on her own. She could win on her own… with Cato’s help, of course. Well, that’s not on her own, is it?
As soon as the words “District 12” crossed Clove’s mouth, Katniss could tell how disgusted she was. No, they weren’t the Capitol’s lap dogs, but she didn’t think it was that bad. Apparently the other districts did. She grimaced a little, finding herself fantasizing about slapping this girl. She was proud of her heritage. Watching Clove rub it in was like kicking her when she was down.
Katniss nodded when Clove confirmed her home. “Ah,” she replied, stretching her arms out behind her. It was nice to finally sit down after being so heavily active all day. “I saw you with those knives.” With this statement, she watched Clove carefully, speaking more with her eyes. The look she gave said ‘watch out’. Katniss could tell that her competitor was degrading her in her mind, and she didn’t want to seem like an easy target. “You’re pretty good, aren’t you?”
There was one thing that Katniss was especially good at- being hostile. She was far from charming, and this scenario was no different, except that she didn’t care how Clove felt about her. She wanted to scream so many things at her, tell her that she wasn’t a weakling even if she was from District 12. Either way, she knew that there was almost zero chance that Clove would ever ally herself with a tribute from District 12. Katniss was already on her hit list. In return, she put Clove on hers.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
Clove didn’t exactly mind being in these Death Games. She would obviously win. It was going to be her and Cato. Her and Cato were going to be victorious. The other victor could be whoever, Clove couldn’t care less who won. As long as it wasn’t the District 12 boy. She had a bit of a problem with him. Actually, she had a huge problem. Well, that’s okay. Clove will be planning to kill him first. A nice knife throw and that’ll be end of Pretty Boy. Clove had been walking down the corridor to get to the cafeteria. A long practice without eating was stressful. It made Clove tense. It made her stressful and completely pissed off.
When Clove got into the cafeteria, Clove picked up a plate and put a bunch of food on it. She was hungrier than she thought. Oh well. Clove walked to an empty table and sat down. Moments later Katniss had walked in and got some food, sitting down. Clove hadn’t noticed, but she was staring at her. Critiquing Katniss. Was she good? Hmm… Might as well talk her and find out. Clove grabbed her tray and walked over to Katniss. “Hi, I’m Clove,” she said a bit arrogantly. Who was she again? “Which District are you from again?” Clove could slightly remember her face, just not her District. Well, she’ll find out soon enough.
Katniss stared at Clove for a moment with her mouth completely full. Why did she have to talk to me? Katniss asked herself. Why couldn’t they eat in complete silence like normal people? She quickly swallowed her food and cleared her throat. “I’m Katniss,” she answered, hoping that Clove could tell how unimpressed she was. Of course this girl was going to be way better than the other tributes; her life in District 2 had been based on this. It was more like an honor for her to be sitting here, rather than a death sentence like it was for the others.
“I’m District 12.” She smiled, knowing what Clove’s reaction would be. We have a District 12? They were the poorest, most overlooked District in the country. There had only been two victors to ever come out of there, yet only one remained alive, and it was her mentor. Her chances of surviving were slim. She decided to continue the conversation, a bit intrigued. “You’re from District 2, right? So you’ve been doing this stuff your whole life?” She asked with a smirk. Katniss put emphasis on the fact that people like Clove had much more experience than the other tributes, yet they thought they were high and mighty above the rest.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
“How about the knives?” he asked. The knives looked easy and they don’t take up much space. He walked over to the knives station. If he learned how to use a weapon good, he would definitely useit on Clove, even if it cost him his life.
“Knives it is,” she said grinning. Katniss led them over to the station, which was on the opposite side of the room. She picked through the rack, finding a bundle of them that suited her hand perfectly. After tossing them in the air and catching them by the handle, she flung one, then two, then all six at a dummy. They were perfect throws, and nowhere near the skill level of someone like Clove, but it wasn’t bad for a beginner. She went to collect them from the target and brought them back, handing them to Peeta. “You just have to put a little force in it,” Katniss advised him. “You’re really strong. I bet you’re going to do really well.” She complimented him with a genuine smile. The first smile that was real since she’d been in the Capitol.
(Source: katnissofpanem)
