Penelope Salcedo was bored.

The eight-year-old girl loved the circus, but practices got boring. She wished she could be high in the sky, like the older kids, but she was stuck watching from backstage. Penelope had already perfected her tumbling routine for this week's performance. It was too easy. Everything was too easy.

Penelope had been a part of the circus for as long as she could remember. At one point in her life, they had traveled all over Panem, performing for people in the Districts. But after the war started when Penelope was just five years old, the circus had been forced to settle in District Seven until the conflict was over. But once it finished, border control was tighter than ever, and the Odyssea Circo had been forced to remain in place.

"Do you want to ditch?" asked Soleil, Penelope's best friend. "We can go down to the lake, Joule said it's really nice this time of year."

Penelope contemplated the idea. The lake had an old rope swing that she loved to use. She liked to pretend she was one of the trapeze artists, soaring through the air. That was her dream. However, her dream wasn't meant to be.

Penelope's father, Alder, had once performed as a trapeze artist, long before Penelope was born. But after an accident, the man had retired, taking on his current role as the ringmaster of the traveling circus. Penelope's father had always been protective over his daughter, but he was especially uptight about her desires to take after his career. He constantly worried about her safety at the circus, only allowing her to practice acrobatics on the ground.

Penelope shrugged at her friend. Her father wouldn't be upset if she was with Soleil. "Sure."

The two girls looked around the ring. All of the performers were focused on their routines. No one paid any notice to the young girls as they left the canvas structure, pulling their dresses over their tight practice uniforms. They ran across the field to the overhang of trees shading the path to the lake.

As soon as they arrived in the clearing with the small body of water, Penelope and Soleil shed their dresses and ran to the water's edge. Penelope was first to the rope swing. She was still too small to reach it from the bank, so she had to venture into the cold water to fetch the rope.

Then, she jumped, wrapping her legs around the rope before flying through the air, landing with a splash into the water. She came up grinning, brushing her wet hair out of her face. She paddled over to the dock where Soleil was sitting, grabbing the younger girl's ankle.

Soleil screamed before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Get in," said Penelope. "The water feels incredible."

Soleil stood and backed up. She took a few steps before gracefully diving off the dock. She surfaced and swam over to Penelope.

The two girls stayed by the lake for around an hour. The morning sun was warm, not too hot yet. After traveling across Panem since she was a little girl, Penelope was thrilled when the Odyssea Circo wound up stuck in District Seven. It was nowhere near as hot as some of the other districts, like District Two, or Soleil's home, District Five. District Seven was also the home of Penelope's father, so Penelope had always dreamed of staying there.

Penelope and Soleil lay on the grass by the water's edge, drying their wet clothes before they returned to the amphitheater.

"That one looks like a deer," said Penelope, pointing at a fluffy white cloud.

"I don't see it," said Soleil.

"How? It's so obvious," said Penelope. "There's the head, with the antlers. And there are the legs."

Penelope tilted her head to the side to watch her best friend. The seven-year-old looked stumped. "I don't understand how you do it. They just looked like clouds."

"Use your imagination, Leia," suggested Penelope.

"East for you to say, Nel," said Soleil. "You're creative."

"So are you," argued Penelope. "You-"

But before Penelope could finish, a boy came crashing out of the woods. He was around the same age as the two girls with thick dark hair. His face was bright red and he was breathing heavily. Penelope felt she had seen him before, but she couldn't place a finger on where or when.

"Thank goodness," he gasped. "I thought I heard voices."

Penelope and Soleil jumped to their feet. "What's wrong?" asked Penelope, speaking before Soleil, per usual.

"My friend," began the boy. "He got bitten by a snake."

"Is he alright?" asked Soleil.

"I don't know," said the boy.

"Take us to him, we can help," offered Penelope.

There wasn't much the young girls could do, but perhaps the trio could help get the boy to the circus. The adults always knew what to do when there were accidents at practice, but maybe they could also help this boy.

Penelope and Soleil followed the boy through the woods, along the path that took them back to the amphitheater. But instead of heading there, they split at a fork in the path, walking past the stream that fed into the lake. After a few minutes of walking, they could see two boys on the ground.

One lay on his back, the other crouched by his side.

"How is he?" asked the boy with Penelope and Soleil.

The blond boy looked up, sighing with relief as he saw the newcomers. "Better now that we have some extra hands."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Penelope, taking a cautious step towards the boys on the forest floor.

"Two of us should stay here with Treech," suggested the blond boy. "The other two should find more help."

"I can stay here," offered Penelope.

"I'll wait too," said the blond boy.

Soleil looked at Penelope, concern on her face. "Are you sure we shouldn't stick together?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," said Penelope. "You go with-"

Her voice trailed off, looking at the first boy for help.

"Dorian," he offered.

"Go with Dorian. I'll stay with them," said Penelope. "Relax, Leia. We won't get in trouble."

Soleil looked uneasy, but took a step back, following Dorian to the amphitheater where the circus performed. Once they were gone, Penelope dropped to her knees beside the boy on the ground.

She was finally able to get a good look at him. He was small and thin, not uncommon for a child raised on the losing side of a war. His dark curly hair was unruly and his hazel eyes were bloodshot. His skin was pale and sweaty.

The other boy, the healthy one, had shaggy blond hair and storm-gray eyes. He was bigger than his friend, and more well-built than most children their age. It marked him as a likely member of District Seven's merchant class.

Both boys looked to be around Penelope's age, though the blond one seemed a bit older. They seemed familiar to her, in the same way Dorian had, but she couldn't figure out where she'd seen any of them before.

Penelope then looked at the boy's leg. His socks and shoes were lying next to him. His ankle had a large red welt, a little bit of blood and pus oozing from two tiny pinpricks. Penelope winced and looked away.

"Is it that bad?" asked the boy.

"No," she lied.

"You could at least try to be more convincing than that," he said.

"Does it hurt?" asked Penelope.

The curly-haired boy nodded. "I can handle it though."

"You're doing great," said the other boy, smiling sincerely at his friend.

"What's your name?" Penelope asked the younger boy. Perhaps if she kept him talking he wouldn't feel the pain in his leg.

"Treech," he said.

"I'm Penelope," said the girl.

"I know, circus girl," said Treech.

"Do I know you?" asked Penelope. She was sure she would have remembered meeting someone with the name Treech. Even in District Seven, that was an uncommon name.

Treech shook his head. "No, but I've seen you around. Sage is my sister."

Penelope grinned. "I love Sage!" she cried. Sage Yanagi was a few years younger than Penelope. The older girl helped train the younger children with their tumbling skills. Sage was in one of the groups Penelope taught.

"Are you also with the circus?" asked Penelope. The group of performers and their families was a close-knit one, but Penelope didn't know everyone.

Treech nodded. "Trapeze," he said.

Penelope groaned. "Lucky," she complained. "I'm not allowed to."

Treech studied her. "Why not? Aren't you supposed to be the best tumbler in your group?"

Penelope nodded.

"Then you're good enough to learn," said Treech. "We can partner when we're old enough."

Penelope sighed. "That would be so much fun."

"What's stopping you?" asked Treech.

"My dad," said Penelope. "He says it isn't safe."

"Alder? The ringmaster?" asked Treech. He scowled when Penelope nodded. "That's nonsense."

"He got in a pretty bad accident before I was born. He doesn't want the same thing to happen to me."

"Accidents can happen anywhere, anytime," said Treech, pointing to his swollen ankle. "No trapeze necessary."

Penelope laughed, smiling broadly at the curly-haired boy.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Treech. "This is Emil. He's a year older than us. His dad is the director."

"Karl Ferrar?" Penelope asked the blond boy. She had almost forgotten he was sitting with them. Her conversation with Treech had been so smooth, it had been easy to ignore him.

Emil nodded. "I tend to hang out with him while you all rehearse. Mom works in town and her job is boring."

"He gets jealous that we get to do cool things and he makes schedules," joked Treech.

"Hey!" complained the blond.

"I think schedules are cool," admitted Penelope.

"I can't tell if you're lying this time," said Treech. "I'm not sure I want to know either."

Penelope giggled. "How are you feeling?" she asked. She took his hand. It was clammy and cool, but she squeezed it anyway, in an attempt to comfort him.

"Not great," said Treech, his face contorting with pain as he tried to move his foot. "Is this what dying feels like?"

"You're so dramatic," said Emil. "I'd reckon dying feels worse."

"Besides, you won't die. Soleil and Dorian will come back with help. You're going to be fine," said Penelope.

"If a pretty girl says it, it must be true," said Emil, nudging Treech's shoulder.

Treech tilted his head, looking up at Penelope. "You're right, she is pretty."

Penelope felt her face warm. She didn't talk to boys very often, much less receive compliments from them. She wasn't really sure how to react to the attention.

"What do you like to do?" asked Penelope, choosing to move on from the compliments.

"I like to draw," said Treech. "What about you?"

"My mom taught me how to weave," said Penelope. "I guess I enjoy that."

"What do you mean, 'you guess?'" asked Emil.

Penelope felt her face flush. "I have trouble sitting still."

"I'm not surprised," said the younger of the two boys, laughing softly. His smile was quickly replaced by a wince.

Emil's eyes anxiously scanned the space around the three, looking for any sign that someone was coming to help. Thankfully, the sound of footsteps over dried leaves was audible, growing louder and louder as someone approached the stream.

Penelope's father, Alder Salcedo emerged, alongside Soleil, Dorian, and a man that could only be Treech's father. The stranger immediately dropped to his son's side. Emil stood and backed up to give the father and son some room. Penelope started to do the same, but her father stopped her.

"Penny? A word, please," he said.

Penelope gulped. She stood slowly and joined her father, away from the rest of the group. He leaned against a tree, arms folded across his chest. He stared at his daughter, disappointment reflected in his brown eyes.

"Why were you out in the woods?" asked her father.

"Soleil and I were finished with practice early," explained Penelope. "So we decided to go for a swim."

"Penelope, honey, you know you aren't supposed to be out here alone," said her father. "Especially without letting me or your mom know. The woods aren't safe."

Penelope hung her head, ashamed of her actions. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "It won't happen again."

"Damn right it won't," said Penelope's father. "You're grounded, kid. Come on, let's go back to the Grove. You can wait in your room until dinner."

"Penelope?" asked Treech, still sitting on the ground with his father.

Penelope looked over her shoulder to look at him.

"Thank you for keeping me company," he said.

Penelope smiled and waved at him, before following her father through the woods back to the Grove, the circle of houses where most of the circus performers resided. Penelope spotted her family's cabin. It was one of the smallest, as the Salcedos only had one child: Penelope. Building a smaller house left more materials for those with larger families.

When they arrived at the cabin, Penelope went to her room, closing the door behind her. She took a seat next to her window, next to her old wooden loom. It had been gifted to her by her mother, Chantilly, when Penelope turned six. Penelope's mother had grown up in District Eight, before joining the circus after meeting Penelope's father. Chantilly missed home sometimes, but Penelope knew how much her mother loved District Seven.

Penelope stared at her loom, trying to figure out what she could weave. But no ideas came to her head. This wasn't usually a concern. Penelope was incredibly creative, her problem usually occurring when she couldn't bring her thoughts to life. She rummaged through her bin of fibers, hoping that the variety of colors and textures would give her inspiration. But nothing distracted her from the boy in the woods. Penelope decided that once she was free of her punishment, she would befriend him and his two friends. She loved Soleil more than anything, but she wanted to meet new people too. Sometimes it was lonely to only have her parents and best friend to talk to.

Three knocks sounded at the door before Penelope's father opened it. Penelope looked up from her bin.

"Can I come in?" asked her father.

Penelope nodded, setting the bin of fibers on the floor. She got up from her chair and sat on her bed, legs crossed underneath her. Alder joined her, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

"I talked to your mom about what happened," he said. "And we came up with a fitting consequence."

"What is it?" asked Penelope. She hoped it wouldn't be anything bad. The last time she got in trouble, she wasn't allowed to see Soleil for a week. That had been torturous.

"We've decided you can learn trapeze," stated Penelope's father.

"But Dad!" complained Penelope. "Wait, what?"

"You can learn trapeze," he repeated. "If it will keep you and Soleil out of trouble."

"Deal," said Penelope enthusiastically. She threw her arms around her dad's neck. "Thank you!"

"You're going to be great, honey," said Penelope's father. "I just worry about you."

"I won't fall," said Penelope. "I'll be careful."

"I know you will, kid," he said, ruffling his daughter's dark hair. "Come on, your mom made rice."

"Hey Dad?" asked Penelope. "Is Treech going to be okay?"

Her father shrugged. "I think so. His dad took him to see a doctor. I'm sure he appreciated your help."

"I didn't do much," said Penelope. "I just talked to him and Emil."

"That sounds good enough. I'm proud of you, Penny."

"Why?" asked Penelope, wrinkling her nose.

"For helping a stranger, even though it must have been scary. You're a brave kid," said Penelope's father.

Penelope beamed with pride. "Thanks, Dad."

The next week, Penelope arrived at the amphitheater early in the morning for her first practice with the other trapeze artists. Treech was there too, his healing ankle wrapped in a thick white bandage. Penelope had been a natural at the skill, and it was even more exciting than she had imagined. She and Treech stuck together like glue at rehearsals, which eventually strengthened their friendship outside of the confines of the amphitheater. Penelope spent more time with Emil and Dorian, and soon enough, the trio of boys and the two girls had become an inseparable group. Over time, the bite on Treech's ankle healed. The children began to forget the exact details of that day, as new, happier memories replaced them. The venom was gone from his veins, leaving behind two tiny scars and a friendship to last a lifetime.

...

an: hey babes! just to say this again, i will not be posting this fic actively until i'm finished with my other treech fic (ást of stríth, go check it out) but i figured i could post a prologue! hopefully it's alright, i'm not sure if i like the last part but that's alright. have a fantastic day! -willow <3