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( act i. district nine )

...bakers boy

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                         — FALLON COULD FEEL THE
rubble beneath her foot, the sound accompanying her as she treaded through the district. Her eyes raked over the wheat field, watching the people harvest the grain under the scorching heat of the sun.

She pulled her gaze back towards the front, inching closer towards the market before the sound of innocent laughter filled her ears.

She tipped her head slightly to the side to see a group of four kids playing with each other in the mud, wide grins adorning their faces with eyes shining. A small smile creeped it's way onto Fallon's lips at the sight.

Her steps never faltered when she finally reached her destination, gazing over the carts of multiple grains, wheats, and a few options of fruit.

The market was quite full, many mothers and sisters purchasing needs for their household. Fallon made sure to keep an eye out for any rare fruits they'd been given as left overs. Though it was a rare case.

She tucked her hands into her pockets, her pace slowing down when she was suddenly sent tumbling forward. She planted her feet firmly on the ground to keep from falling, a soft scoff slipped from her before turning to see a blonde balancing himself as well.

"What the hell?" Fallon huffed, clear agitation evident in her harsh tone.

Peeta glanced up at the dark haired girl who stood before him, he immediately regretted his choice to have walked backwards— even if it had been for only two minutes.

"I am so sorry, I didn't see you." His tone came out apologetic, watching her dust her arms out before snarking a reply, "No shit."

Peeta didn't pay much mind to her words before taking a closer look at her, a feeling that he'd seen her before crossing his mind. The second she pushed her hair away from her face it clicked in his head— Fallon Mintz, the victor of the 73rd anual Hunger Games.

"You're Fallon, Fallon Mintz." Her name fell from Peeta's lips swiftly, intently watching the girl who slightly cocked a brow up, "Keen observation." Fallon turned on her heel, clearly showing her intent to walk away when the blonde followed after her, "Wait up."

The teenage girl fought the urge to curse the blonde out, "What the fuck do you want?" Peeta glanced at their surroundings, heavily lost on where he currently was. His mother, with permission and escort from the Capitol, had sent him to distract nine to acquire flour— seeing as district Twelve had fallen short, much like other of their supplies.

"I'm... a little lost, I guess? I need a little help finding the marketplace." Peeta voiced his current dilemma to which Fallon faltered slightly, turning to gaze at Mellark who simply looked into her dark eyes. "You're not from this district, are you?"

Peeta slowly shook his head, "No, uh. I'm from Twelve." he truthfully told her, watching a curious glint shimmer in her dark guarded eyes. "What's district Twelve doing in these parts?"

The sixteen year old boy darted his gaze around, "Flour." Fallon pulled her brows together slightly, "Flour?" Peeta nodded in confirmation, "Twelve's resources are running low."

Fallon huffed out a laugh, yet not a trace of amusement could be detected in it, "Of course." The brunette turned back around, continuing her way while Peeta stilled in his spot— assuming she wasn't going to be much help.

"You coming, flour boy?" The victors distant voice rang in his ears. Peeta perked his head up at her invitation as relief swelled through him at the thought that he was finally going to get help. He picked up his place to catch up with the other teen a few feet ahead of him.

Peeta was quick to slip into her side, casually glimpsing at her from his side while she led him.

Fallon clenched her jaw slightly, feeling the blondes eyes on her but figured he'd look away soon enough. She'd been mistaken.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Fallon's voice caught him by surprise, not having even realized she had noticed him stealing glances. Peeta scratched the back of his neck slightly, "I was... um, looking at the scar on your chin."

The scar ran rather deep, meaning the intent was clear that it had been tried as an attempt to kill her. Fallon tensed slightly, not enough to be noticed though, "Well don't." she quickly snapped at him.

Peete was quick to train his eyes ahead when they seemed to have reached the wheat section. Fallon gestured over at the stand a few feet from them, "There's your flour." The blonde boy offered her a kind smile, "Thanks."

Fallon walked past him, heading for the sugar when the boy's voice made her falter, "Peeta." The seventeen year old girl turned back towards him slightly, confusion written over her prominent features, "What?"

"It's my name. I knew yours so, it only seemed fair." Mellark gently responded, his bright blue eyes never leaving hers. Fallon watched him for a second before the next she was tearing her gaze away from him and onto the vendor before her.

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FALLON DROPPED the bag of sugar on the counter right after she'd shut the front door. The girl shrugged off her jacket before hanging it back onto the coat rack.

A heavy sigh escaped her just as Kou treaded down the stairs, "Since when does getting sugar take so long?"

The dark haired brunette reached into the fridge for water before curtly replying, "I was helping someone find something."

Confusion visibly struck the boy, everyone in their district knew their way around, so who had his sister needed to guide? "Who was it?" Fallon took a large sip of her water, screwing the cap back on while looking ahead at her sibling, "A guy from twelve."

Now Kou looked perplexed, his brows knitting themselves together with curiosity shining in his expressive eyes, "What's someone from district twelve doing here?"

The teenage girl leaned upon the white counter top, humming in agreement, "That was my exact question. Apparently he's in need of flour and twelve's run dry." Fallon watched her brother tip his head to the side in question, "Is that allowed?"

The girl fell silent in thought for a short moment before she answered, "With escort, I think."

Kou hummed slightly, the thought never having crossed his mind that other districts could be escorted to others but dropped that specific topic. "Well, at least we know nine isn't the only one going to shit."

Fallon raised her brows slightly with a firm nod, "No kidding."

The door suddenly swung open, their mother stepping into the house she now barely occupied. Fallon tensed as Kou swallowed thickly, an eerie sensation falling upon the atmosphere of the home.

"Make sure you sweep these floors, I can leave behind footprints with all this dust that has been collecting." The woman harshly spoke upon her entrance, they hadn't seen her in hours and this was the first thing she said to the siblings. No surprise there though.

Fallon had to bite down on her tongue harshly to keep from retorting back. Her patience with the woman was wearing thinner by the day, especially every time she looked at Kou to see him visibly uncomfortable and nervous.

No one should have to feel that way in the presence of their parents.

Jia had begun to make her way up the stairs but halted in her steps having not received a response. She turned back, her attention mainly on Fallon, "Did you hear me?"

The teen girl clenched her fists at her sides, beginning to get horribly agitated with every second that passed by with her mother present, "Yeah, I did."

"Then answer when I talk to you." Jia raised her tone at her daughter, her expressive eyes bearing into Fallon's before she decided to pay no mind to them and locked herself in her room. As she usually did.

Fallon breathed heavily, unclenching her hands to rake them through her dark brown locks. Her attention moved over to her brother who was leaning on the railing of the stairs with his eyes watching his fumbling hands intently.

A frown pulled at the sisters lip, no matter how hard she tried— she couldn't always shield him from everything entirely, no matter how much she wished she could.

"I'm sorry about that, Kou." Fallon always felt the need to apologize for her mothers behavior, perhaps because she was raised into doing so. Kou shook his head firmly, "You have nothing to be sorry for. Our mother is the problem."

Fallon evenly breathed in and out, chewing the inside of her lip, "You still shouldn't have to witness that." Kou huffed in annoyance, but she knew precisely who it was directed to, "And you shouldn't have to put up with her bullshit and crap mouth. All she does is order and insult you around while she does basically nothing."

Fallon didn't know how to respond to her brother, so she merely shrugged, "It is what it is, Kou. I've learned to deal with it."

Kou clenched his jaw, "Yeah, that's my problem." Fallon fell silent, her siblings words floating around in her head before she chirped up, "Why don't you go take a run? It helps relieve stress, trust me."

The younger boy eyed his sister for a second longer before reluctantly nodding in agreement with her idea. He could also tell she wanted a moment to herself and he would always respect that, "See you later then, sis."

The teen waved her brother goodbye, waiting until he was gone from her line of sight to begin treading up the wooden stairs. Her exhaustion had washed over her in a mere second, the weight of her body suddenly being too much to handle.

Fallon stepped into her room, walking over to pull the curtains shut. The brunette plopped onto her bed face down, kicking off her sneakers before cuddling into her comforter that warmed her.

Her eye lids began to feel heavy, barely able to blink before she gave into her fatigue.

Fallon's chest heaved, her back pressed to the side of what were the remains of a building. District Two had begun hunting her down the second she'd killed that boy from One.

The brunette struggled to calm herself, pushing away the sight of the boys lifeless eyes. She needed to push through— she had to survive.

Fallon reached into her belt to pull two daggers, flipping them in hand when the sound of footsteps nearing rang in her ears.

"Why did you kill me?"

Fallon's breath caught in her throat to see Tyson, the boy who had been her partner from district Nine. His eyes where bloodshot red, his complexion paler than snow with a deep slit caressing his throat, showing exactly how he died.

The girls entire body began to tremble, completely stunned by the sight as her dead friend continued, "You didn't save me. Why?"

Glimpses of the horrid fight flickered through her haunted mind, she had been fighting off the girl from One after they'd taken them by surprise.

Fallon had used brute force to flip the girl backwards after having taken a knife to the shoulder, blood spread throughout the brick her head had landed on. The glimmer in the gingers eyes slowly faded, her body unmoving. The sight alone horrified Fallon by what she herself had done.

Boom.

The canon went off.

Before she knew it, the sound of helpless gasps reached her ears— turning to see Tyson's limp figure hit the ground with a thud, his throat sliced open.

And the canon went off again. Another life lost.

Fallon had reacted on instinct, throwing her dagger to hit the boy from One square in the chest.

Boom. A third canon rang in her ears. The sound sending the sixteen year old to still in her spot. Blood seeping from her upper shoulder with her eyes glossed.

Two kills in the matter of minutes.

Fallon felt her lungs begin to squeeze as someone had wrapped their hands around her throat, thrashing in their hold she looked up to see the same boy from One, his eyes completely lifeless and his chest drenched in blood— the blood she'd made him bleed.

"You deserve to die."

Fallon began to see stars decorating her vision, grasping the hands desperately but was unable to saber herself from the secured fate.

His words rang in her ears— perhaps she did deserve to die.

Fallon sprung up from her bed, eyes wide with her lips parted and hard irregular breaths spilling from her mouth. Her entire body shook with light sweat covering her entirely.

It took the brunette a few minutes to realize it had been another one of her nightmares, allowing herself to settle down slightly. Fallon took notice of how it was now dark outside, the sun having from sight hidden once again.

She choked on a sob, her hand coming up to cover her mouth to avoid waking her brother up.

The seventeen year old girl rubbed her eyes harshly, her hands raking through her dark brown locks as her breathing slowly began to regulate.

She was beginning to think the nightmares would never leave her at peace.

Instead to be there every night to remind the girl of what she had done and all the lives she had taken.

A daily reminder that she was no better.

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   — AUTHORS NOTE,
we're starting off great i think