Katniss & Tobias

Chapter 1

Today, I receive a message from outside of Panem. I'm glad the victors, including me, chose to have Panem be a come-and-go-as-you-please kind of place. I haven't gone outside of Panem, because of Peeta and my two children, so this should be a new adventure.

Oh, do you not know who I am? Well, all in all, I'm your average girl-on-fire- who-also-kills-people kind of person. Well, I was in the Hunger Games. What do you expect if you want to survive?

The message is from someone named Tobias Eaton. He-I assume Tobias was a he- was sending his message from this place called Chicago.

I can't believe there's more than Panem and trees and Hunger Games and districts.

He says in his message, Is this Katniss Everdeen? I need to talk to you. Meet me fifty paces away from the border of Panem.

I decide to bring my bow. Trust isn't something I give out like my deer. Not since President Coin and her crazy ideas she had planned.

I grab my new bow, the one Beetee redesigned. I love it. From the snap of the string, I can't love any other sound. I sling my quiver around my shoulder. "Mother, I'll be back soon. And Prim. . ."

My voice trails off. It's a month since her death. I still can't believe it. All of the Hunger Games, the reason why I went back into the arena for the Quarter Quell, and the whole rebellion with District 13. . .all of it, in the end, was because my love for my little sister was fueled in an unshakable way.

My mother places a hand on my shoulder. Her eyes say everything her lips can't.

I walk through the woods quickly. The sounds on nature that once was a comfort, now haunt me with memories. Glimmer, Rue, Foxface. . .they all met their end in the forested arena.

I reach the end of Panem. I have to climb a tall fence to reach the unknown. The familiar rush of excitement and fear envelopes me, and I shiver. I land, and walk, silently counting my steps as a tall man, around my age, enters into my view.

He is wearing combat pants, dark and splotched with red spots, which I think are stains of blood. His dark green shirt is ripped, and I see the muscle that the short sleeves are hiding.

Upon closer look, I see that there's an emotional story with his outfit. His eyes are straining with tiredness and heartbreak. Bags under his eyes, and an unfocused expression, his dark eyes tell me of a difficult journey.

"You must be Katniss," Tobias says. "I need your help."