Spark - Interlude I:

-----

Prim smiled softly as she patted the rump of her goat, Lady. The animal was old,but it did its job well. She got the goat as a birthday present from Katniss and Solanum the other year so she took care of it as best as she could.

They were really the best older sisters a girl could have.

Katniss with her overall protectiveness, reliability and the bottomless affection. Her calloused hands brushing her hair every night and tolerated Prim's incessant need for cuddling.

Solanum with her subtle ways and actions that screamed out care and love in equal spades. Jaded gray eyes identical to Katniss' own flashing fondly as she tried to teach Prim to defend herself as much as she could.

She honestly wouldn't exchange them for anything in the world.

Prim admitted it was...difficult and infuriating sometimes when they baby her or tried to spare her from the realities of life - something she's already familiar of despite what her sister's might think - but that's alright. They were together. As long as three of them were with each other, well-

Everything would be alright.

The blond-haired girl just finished getting milk and making cheese from her goat. Her mother called on her a while ago to dress and get ready for the reaping, but Prim was stalling - rather preoccupied about how she would give the gift she painstakingly saved for weeks to Solanum.

It was a bit late, for about several months give or take, but this would a good way to cheer her older sister up. Solanum's birthday had always been a sad affair with the death of their father and all, so no one was in the mood to celebrate the event - least of all the birthday girl herself.

It was her way of saying thank you too for giving her the comfort she needed after being the focus of Katniss wrath when she persistently brought up the subject concerning tesserae that other month.

It was admittedly...impulsive of her to bring it up. Prim, at that time, was illogically fed up of being the baby - of being the youngest that needed to be taken care off while her sisters do everything they could so they wouldn't go hungry every day. Despite Sol's comforting words - about how she was their inspiration and "innocence" during the first and last time she went beyond the fence, Prim couldn't help but feel like a burden to both of them.

She didn't have Katniss strength and cleverness or Sol's intelligence and cunning. Even with her work with Lady, it felt like she wasn't doing as much as she possibly could.

However, Solanum really did have a way with words. Her attempts were clumsy - as if she was trying vainly to emulate another person - but it did the trick. After a talk with her, Prim felt a little bit better.

It was a pleasant surprise considering the older girl always liked to keep to herself even from before.

Solanum used to scare her, actually.

Prim could remember asking her mother or Katniss why Solanum was always screamed in her sleep and well-

No one really knew or understood what's Solanum's going through.

And if she was being honest, no one really cared or put enough effort to get to the root of all the tortured screams and ceaseless crying. They soothe, yes. They hug and wipe the tears but-

Her father was too busy, her mother too tired and her sister, Katniss, too preoccupied by how unfair their life was.

And well, Prim just got into line and ignored how Solanum was pushing all that unexplainable grief down and repressing it the best she could.

...Solanum deserved better.

Prim really hoped her sister liked her gift.

Walking inside the house solemnly, Prim shot a smile at the sight of Katniss sweaty form.

"Come on, little duckling." Katniss murmured teasingly as she took Prim in her arms and patiently untangled the knots out of her hair.

Prim sighed and let herself lean into her sister's shoulders.

"Where's Solanum?" She asked.

The fingers in her hair stopped. "I don't know. I thought she went ahead when we parted in the fence."

"Oh." Prim frowned. "Okay."

She'll just give the gift to her later then.

-----

Prim could only scream in anguish as both of her sisters volunteered themselves in her place at the same time.

It echoed throughout the silent clearing hollowly.

"No no no." She sobbed frantically, fervently hoping that this was just a dream. This wasn't real. "Please no! Katniss. Sol." Prim fought against her mother's grip valiantly. "Don't do this."

Always a burden-

Always so useless-

"Why is this happening to us?" She whispered, her voice hoarse. "It wasn't fair. It wasn't - isn't right. Why?"

Prim looked at the closed-off look in Solanum's face and the utterly devastated one on Katniss.

Everything hurt.

...

..

.

Katniss couldn't deny that Solanum was strange.

Someone too mature for her age. Someone too hardened, too cynical, too...wrong.

It hadn't always been that way.

She could distinctly remember a time before the drama.

A time where little Solanum was the girl with the pretty blond hair like their mother and the same gray eyes like their father. The girl who was like a little kitten - always scampering towards her and accompanying her practically everywhere, eager to please yet adorably prickly at times.

Until everything just...changed. Her sister became withdrawn and seemed to curl in on herself until the Solanum Katniss once remembered seemed to fade.

Until the previous her was nothing more than a memory.

It took a while before Katniss accepted that.

And, if Katniss was being frank, she probably couldn't bring herself to do so in this lifetime.

She admitted it was horrible of her to think that way, but Katniss wasn't particularly nice. That was Prim's job and well - even with Solanum's persistence and help, the most she could give was a spot below their younger sister.

Don't get her wrong. Katniss still cared - they're blood, after all - and she would give her life for her, but given a choice between Prim and Solanum, she would choose Prim every time.

Yes, it was horrible of her to care for one of her sisters more than the other, but Prim was light and unbroken and innocence and Solanum-

Solanum was...shattered - a fragmented version of the sister Katniss once knew.

Katniss sighed as she walked towards the Hob - the black market were they usually trade their catch - her and Sol's haul in hand.

Although their relationship was different now, it wasn't - it wasn't that bad.

Both of them were trying their best to build a bridge and Solanum's help in the hunting was always appreciated.

Her sister had a gift with knives and traps and, as good as Katniss was with her bow, Solanum's mostly the reason why they were eating like - or even better than - the merchants in the nicer part of the district.

They could even spare some meat for their neighbors once or twice. With Gale's family mostly, even after what happened in the forest. They needed the help and Katniss' family had the luxury to be benevolent.

Besides, Katniss was sure she could cash in on the favor when the time came. Gale was prideful and well, a favor or two from a hunter as skilled as she was wouldn't be amiss.

Lugging her bag in Greasy Sae's place, Katniss plastered a smile on her face. "How about six of the fish for good bread?"

-----

Katniss could only look on blankly at the people in front of her as she stood on stage with her sister.

She-

She didn't really know how things could go so wrong this fast.

Why did Solanum have to volunteer, damn it?

Why?!

"Since this was particularly unorthodox," Effie announced energetically once she convened with the higher-ups. "The Capitol had decided to let only the best between our two brave female tributes to pass on to the official competition! After announcing the male tribute, the two of you would be having-" She paused dramatically. "a fight until one surrenders or incapacitated. Death isn't out of the rules too so if you have some hidden grudge against the other, it wouldn't be frowned upon."

The eccentrically-dressed woman clapped her hands in front of her happily even as the crowd looked at her in disbelief. "How utterly exciting! I didn't expect for something like this to happen, but the drama, the intrigue. Who between the two sisters-" Effie glanced at the two beside her in the stage. "You are sisters, right?" When Katniss nodded jerkily, she continued. "would get the chance to win the gold, the fame and the big fancy house at the top." Effie laughed. "What more could you wish for?"

All was silent.

Not a sound was heard.

And Katniss-

Katniss was trembling.

...She's scared.

.

..

...

Gale, as he grimaced at the sight his trap was reduced to, wondered why he didn't just ask the blond-haired Everdeen girl for tips when he and the two sisters were cordial with each other.

She was brilliant with the traps, even better than he was, and it was stupid of him, he admit, to let his pride to get the better of him.

And now he had nothing to show for it but fishes and strawberries he managed to found somewhere.

He didn't want to owe them again, but, unfortunately, it would look like he would. The youngest Everdeen girl, Prim, if he remembered it right, would probably drop off another bunch of meat as a sign of good-will and-

Gale sighed as he stood up from his crouch and packed up his things in frustration.

He hated being a charity case.

He wished he could have handled the hovercar debacle better. It wasn't fair of him to take it out on the blond-haired girl, but there was just something about Solanum Everdeen that pushed his buttons.

He never really did like her all that much.

She was...unnerving.

There was something decidedly odd about her that Gale couldn't pinpoint and it didn't help that he hadn't gotten over how, on the first time they've met, just as he was offering to teach Katniss for a partnership in exchange of his knowledge in traps, the younger Everdeen girl just have to reveal how good she was at the trade.

He didn't like how...extra he feel when she was there. How he wasn't needed because with her on Katniss' side, he was nothing.

Not that it mattered now really, since he and Katniss weren't talking to each other much.

Gale shook his head in disgust. He couldn't hunt like this.

He should probably get ready for the reaping.

-----

The two sisters volunteered.

Of course they would.

Gale wouldn't expect anything less since their devotion to Prim was obvious, but it made his blood run cold nonetheless.

The thought of the two fighting for the spot-

The two would probably do their best so the other wouldn't fight on their behalf.

This would get ugly.

When Effie Trinket continued to the drawing for the boys, he could feel himself tremble.

Even before the woman could open her lips, Gale knew this was it.

That's just the kind of shitty luck he had.

"Gale Hawthorne."

It was him.