WHO: Cassia Holt → Katniss Everdeen WHEN: Early hours of May 24 WHERE: Cassia's bedroom SUMMARY: Cassia's woken in the middle of the night by a dream in which she volunteers as tribute. WARNINGS: None
The words escaped Cassia's lips as a gasp, said aloud in tandem with Katniss Everdeen as her dreams made way to waking: I volunteer as tribute.
One sudden intake of breath later and she was awake, laying back in her bed as her heart beat out a heavy staccato in her chest. She'd seen Katniss before in her dreams. She had watched her interact with her father, observing a relationship that echoed so much of what she remembered sharing with her own father before he passed away; in fact, she remembered the grief that Katniss had grappled with as her own father died and, though it hadn't been as trying in the aftermath for her as it might have been for the girl in her dreams, Cassia could relate too much to the pain and the attempts at keeping the remains of her family in one piece. She'd been given moments of Katniss with her sister, Primrose, a girl that reminded Cassia so much of her own sister. She had watched her hunt and fish and learn how to set proper traps with the help of Gale, someone who felt so familiar to her in ways Cassia couldn't understand.
And then there had been this. Cassia brought herself to a sitting position, running her fingers through her hair as her breathing returned to normal. The dream had felt like it might never end, now that she sorted through the events. She had met with Gale in the woods, spending their time there as they always did, though this time indulging themselves as they spoke of the upcoming reaping. They had visited the mayor's home to drop off strawberries, resulting in a tense conversation between Madge and Gale. She'd gone home and gotten ready for the reaping, enjoying tender moments with Prim. And then they had gone to the reaping.
Cassia tipped her head back, letting the scene play out again in her mind's eye. She had been standing with all of the girls, exchanging looks with Gale when the first name had been drawn. Despite all of Katniss's efforts to keep Prim's potential at being picked at the smallest of percentages, that's exactly what had happened. Prim's name was pulled from thousands of slips of paper and Katniss had done the only thing she could think to do. She volunteered to take her sister's place.
Cassia had started to understand more about the world that Katniss lived in as time went on. She and her family lived in obvious poverty, her illegal hunting the only thing keeping them from starvation. In fact, she knew it had been a close thing before she had started going into the woods. From what she could tell, it was just one way the government kept control of their citizens. The other, of course, was the Hunger Games -- the games that Katniss had just volunteered to take her sister's place in.
She could relate to that, Cassia thought. She'd have done the same for Mari.
It all sounded familiar to Cassia, though she didn't know just how. She felt as though she'd seen a movie trailer or commercial at some point that mentioned the Hunger Games. She had dismissed the dreams at first, but between their refusal to quit and the confirmation that others in town had been having the same strange dreams, Cassia knew there was more to this than just an overactive imagination and her subconscious holding onto something in the back of her mind. Just what it meant, though, she had no idea.
With a sigh, Cassia let herself lay back down in her bed. A glance at the glowing clock told her she was due to wake up in three hours and she'd need that sleep if she wanted to get through the next day. Closing her eyes, she hoped to fall asleep quickly -- and for the dreams to stay away.