The Maze Tributes

Chapter 1

Katniss's palms were sweaty and her breath was controlled. The woods around her were silent, so silent that Katniss could swear she heard her heartbeat. She kept her bow tightly in her grasp, a sleek and sharpened arrow fastened onto the string, prepared for any food...

Or any trouble.

Her feet crunched on the leaves, the environment made her heart pound harder and harder. It had only been a year since the last Annual Hunger Games, but a year felt like a day to Katniss. Almost every day when she left into the restricted area around her District for a hunt she was reminded of the horrors she had witnessed in the last Games. That day was the Reaping for the Games. She no longer felt nervous for that day as she had won the Games the previous year. But there was always a slight edge to the Reaping, like an uneasy feeling one gets when the lights suddenly go out.

A loud snap caught her attention. She squatted down behind a bush out of instinct to conceal herself from the noise, whether prey or predator. Somehow her heart raced even faster as she rose from the bush, slow and cautious. The slower she rose, the more her body began to shake with an itching anticipation.

Slowly and finally coming into view, a deer grazed peacefully, unknowing of being stalked. Katniss readied herself, cautiously and quietly raising her body and bow just high enough to get a clear shot of the animal.

She exhaled. Focused. Her eyes and arrow never left the deer. She braced herself, preparing to release the arrow, and then snap, she loosed the arrow startled by the noise, not even seeing where it went. She scurried back to get to her feet, to see if she had hit her target. The arrow pierced the tree right next to the deer before it took off into the forest.

"Whoops, sorry about that, Catnip." Katniss turned to see Gale, he had a look on his face like a kid caught by their parents doing something bad. She rolled her eyes.

"That's the third time this week."

"I know I know, I can never tell what you're doing out here."

"You know this is the time I hunt."

"Extra game, I got it. You said that yesterday." She could never stay mad at him. He was her best friend since her first Reaping. Her stern look of annoyance relaxed into a smirk. He shared the look and extended his hand.

"Come on, don't wanna be late. Celebrity of District 12 or not they'll shoot you dead." Kaniss's head lowered, smile fading. Every single day she was reminded of those stupid Games. Whether she won or not it didn't change anything. The Games weren't going to magically stop because she won, she wasn't even sure the Capitol was very happy about the way she won either. It was either they had no Victor or they had two, and she hardly ever saw her fellow Victor, Peeta.

She smacked away Gale's hand and began walking back to the District. He raised his hands, a smug look across his face.

"My apologies, your Majesty." She only found his sarcasm slightly amusing.

She led the way back to the District, towards the fence, not before checking if the electrical hum was present to alert her of its charge, but not a sound, only the vibrant noises of the woods behind them. She placed her bow and arrows back into the hollow of a tree and went through the fence behind Gale.

The District was silent. No one made a peep as they made their way to the Reaping. It was always a dark day for the District, two poor souls chosen to fight to the death. All to make a point. The Capitol was harsh and cruel. Before the war, they split the people into Districts, one through thirteen. But after the war, they created the Hunger Games and bombed District 13 into oblivion. Katniss desperately wanted the games to stop, but no matter how much she willed the nightmare to end it would continue until someone made a stand. She shook her head at the thought; the Capitol was too powerful, and facing someone as insignificant as a young girl from the poorest District of them all would be like squishing an ant.