hunted • haymitch abernathy

six

six; THOSE FAMILIAR FEELINGS OF ACCEPTANCE AND TERROR

She left the bathroom with a deep scowl set into her face, tugging on the hem of her short dress as she went, hissing in frustration when the material didn't shift as much as she had hoped.

One in three, Thread had told her, The odds of being picked are just one in three.

She knew that his words were only to reassure himself rather than her because she knew that no matter who was chosen, she would be stepping back into that arena in a few short days.

It didn't matter if her name wasn't the one to be reaped, she was returning, she would make damn sure that it would be her.

The morning of the reaping left Ember in a state of calm that left the people around her in confusion and quite a bit of worry considering Cecelia had been crying all morning, clutching her children and husband tightly and Aspen had not let go of either Calico or her abdomen.

Thread was the only person who knew what lay behind her mask of calm.

Acceptance and a sliver of terror.

Acceptance over the fact that she would either be chosen or she would be volunteering for whoever happened to be and terror for the exact same reason and though Ember was more terrified of that arena than most, she was more terrified that Cecelia or Aspen could possibly return and they had much more to live for than she did.

Her hand was clasped tightly within Thread's who remained stoic as they entered the town square, a Peacekeeper stopping them and gesturing for Thread to join the crowd that had begun to form.

Ember nodded at her older brother and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek with a sad smile.

He returned her smile with one of his own as he crouched down to kiss her forehead and Ember pretended not to notice how glassy his eyes had become as he squeezed her hand once more before letting go and joining the crowd, his silent words of love hanging in the air that the younger sibling shared wholeheartedly.

Ember remained rooted in place for a few moments longer before she turned and joined Aspen and Calico who stood at the edge of the platform, three peacekeepers surrounding them.

"How are you feeling?" Ember asked the couple once she had stopped beside them.

Calico shrugged offhandedly but Ember caught the slight shake of his upper leg, the one that the prosthetic was attached to, a signal that indicated just how terrified he was and Ember moved forward to embrace the man she had come to view as a younger brother and son rolled up into one and when she pulled slightly back, she gestured for Aspen to join them.

They were united.

A family, no matter what.

✦❀✦

Ember Tides was known as the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and had been since the very moment her name had been called all those years ago.

Not one person had caught onto her plan until the very moment she had slit the throat of the boy from District 2, aside from her partner who never voiced his suspicions until the minutes before his death, one that still caused her to wake up in a cold sweat almost every night.

She could not pull that strategy this time around and even if she tried to, it would not work as perfectly as it had during her first games.

Her back straightened and she allowed a small smile to spread across her face as she felt the camera zooming in on her just before it cut to Fallon, who was making his way onto the makeshift stage.

"Welcome." His Capitol accent had Ember cringing more than usual, her eyes narrowing into slits at the sight of the large smile on his face, "Welcome all of you lovely and happy people to the seventy-fifth anniversary and to the 3rd Quarter Quell, what I'm certain will be our best games yet."

From the other side of Fallon, Ember made eye contact with both Woof and Calico and the looks on either man's face was almost enough to bring forth a fit of giggles but she forced herself to keep a straight face.

"As usual, ladies first," Fallon announced with his usual dazzling smile.

He tottered over to the bowl before plucking out one of the three pieces of paper that held the name of the woman being sent off to her death but the dark-haired woman thought they might as well have had all three slips with Ember Tides written on them, because there was absolutely no way she would allow either Aspen or Cece to return.

After some dramatics, Fallon finally strutted back to the microphone and unfolded the paper eagerly.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, surprised, "Aspen Iv-"

"I volunteer!"

Ember stepped forward, without a single thought or hesitation, she took another step so she stood beside Fallon, who had gasped quite loudly in shock.

"I volunteer as tribute." She declared, forcing herself to not look out into the crowd for her brother or to gaze back at any of her fellow victors.

"Oh, well then." Fallon chuckled, "This is a surprise."

It wasn't, Ember thought to herself.

"Shall I move onto the men?"

Ember nodded and watched silently as Fallon moved to the other bowl that only held two pieces of paper and she drew in a shaky breath because no matter who it was that would be joining her, they were apart of her family and they had been for years, Woof had been her mentor, he had been around from day one of her games and Calico, she had found an understanding with his older brother during their games, she had promised herself that she would protect his family for as long as she could and so far, had done her best to help the Weft family for twenty years and before she knew it, Fallon had returned to her side and so had Woof, despite Calico being the one called, the old man's eyes soft as they met Ember's glassy gaze.

"Well, I now present to you our tributes for this years Quarter Quell so let's give them a round of applause." Fallon exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands together, "Ember, Woof, please shake hands."

Scattered applause broke out around the town's square as Ember placed her hands into Woof's but instead of shaking, Woof tightened his grip and raised their hands into the air.

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well, it's been a minute.

i never want to publish something that isn't my best work and it took me so long to write this chapter because i was never truly happy with how it turned out so i kept on changing and fixing parts and even now i'm not 100% impressed with this chapter but i didn't want to leave this story hanging for so long and i'm really sorry about the delay but i hope you enjoyed the chapter.

thanks for reading!

~r