Percy Jackson the Tribute (Percy Jackson Hunger Games crossover)

Training

Percy was up early again the next morning, which surprised him. He always thought he slept in late because his mother was always yelling at him, but maybe most people didn't get up at six in the morning. He got up at six thirty, which was late by her standards, but the halls were empty as he roamed aimlessly. He kept finding himself outside of Katniss's door, but after what had happened last time, he refrained from knocking. That is, until he heard her start screaming. After reliving the experience of the Avox girl the night before, he was surprised that he didn't have nightmares. Katniss, apparently, wasn't so lucky. 

Percy stopped outside of her door and called her name as she started screaming for her dad to run. Something in Percy's heart caved. Her father... 

Percy sat down against the wall across the hall from her door. He looked off into space, remembering how her father had been one of the few kind people other than his mother. That was where he had learned to shoot; he had been the only person that wasn't completely discouraged at Percy's innate lack of skill. Over time -- a lot of time -- Percy improved, finally overcoming his lack of talent, and the bow became instinct. Percy cried almost as hard as Katniss when Mr. Everdeen had died, but Katniss never knew. 

She gasped and the bed creaked, and she stopped screaming.

"Ugh," she groaned, and her footsteps padded away from the bed. He felt a tugging in his gut, a sudden sense of aliveness, but then he realized that she had probably just gotten in the shower. He closed his eyes and relished the feeling of water flowing all around him, trying to forget his worries and enjoy the moment. The water turned off, and he took a deep breath. Katniss opened the door, dressed in a long-sleeved burgundy tunic and black pants. It was similar to the outfit he had been wearing for the past two days, but not green. Percy barely held in a smile; this was Katniss. Without all the fancy hair, clothes and make-up, looking like she could be headed out to the woods. He thought it was beautiful. She saw him and froze.

"What are you doing, Percy? I'll admit, this is slightly better than yesterday, but still kinda creepy," she said, placing one hand on her hip. He hesitated.

"I heard you screaming," he said finally. I was going to come check on you, but then I remembered what happened with the door, so I just called your name, but then you started saying your dad's name, and I... sort of went into a daze. Did you know he taught me how to shoot a bow?" he asked, looking up at her face. 

She shook her head, tearing up slightly. "No, you never told me," she said. Percy nodded. 

"I recovered the same day you did. My mom couldn't get me to do anything, I just --" he shuddered. "Did you never notice how I always threw up after the coal mine tours? I hated them. You missed like half of them, but I know you were the same way."

She looked surprised. "No, I never noticed. You were always the one that stayed behind with me, I just thought you felt bad for me."

Percy chuckled a little bit. "Yeah, you were always like, 'No, go ahead. I'm fine,' and you never realized that I was every bit as terrified as you were. I thought my mom told everyone about it. I don't know why she thought it would help, but I swear everyone knew that I had nightmares about your dad."

She blinked, and a tear slid down her cheek. Why did he have to be like this? Why did he have to be so perfect? Her cynical side thought that maybe he was trying to become close, be kind, so that she would trust him, making his job easier in the Games, but she had known him for years. This was just the way Percy was. Why didn't he even seem remotely worried about how he would do in the Games? Why was he so relaxed? The only way she could act like that was if she had already given up all hope. If she knew that she wasn't going to even try, it would ease the stress, that's for sure. But she promised Prim, so she couldn't do that. Prim was Percy's entire life just like she was Katniss's, so he must have made a similar promise. Except that, he knew that Prim would be happiest having Katniss back.