The Odds are Definitely Not in My Favor

Tinder: Chapter III

Tinder - Chapter III:

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The three of them, Katniss, Solanum and Prim, decided to skip school to gather dandelions in the meadow near the fence.

It was fun. The activity was relaxing and it wasn't like she was in a hurry to wade into the forest, so it was...nice.

It was nice to spend a day with her sisters for once without the awkwardness and hesitance that almost always seem to mar their interactions with one another. Since all of them were focused on getting as many dandelions as they could, there weren't much talking to be had, but both of her sister's presence brought enough comfort.

It made her remember why she loved this second chance at life in the first place.

Seeing their relieved smiles - seeing the tension that hung over their too young shoulders temporarily disappear made living and surviving all worth it.

"Isn't this amazing Sol? There's so much food!" Prim commented happily, awed at the thought.

"Yeah. It's...it's good." Solanum smiled hesitantly. "Katniss was really smart."

Prim beamed. "Yeah."

Katniss turned to look at her exasperatedly for a moment before glancing away. "I got the idea from you Sol. Don't sell yourself short."

Solanum felt her cheeks warm at the sentiment.

Prim giggled good-naturedly before continuing on in a somber manner. "Won't the Peacekeepers get mad at us because we're skipping school?"

"No, it's okay." Solanum assured, ducking down to add more dandelions in her bucket. "The Peacekeepers here are pretty lenient though we should take care not to stay near the fence for too long."

Both stopped in their tracks for a moment before Katniss joked offhandedly. "It sounds like you're used to doing this, Sol."

Solanum just laughed in response - scratching the side of her cheek awkwardly. "Um. So what are we going to do with this, Katniss?"

She winced at the lame diversion, but stuck with it despite the dubious look shot by her older sister.

That was close.

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Solanum started skipping school when she was six.

After witnessing and understanding the technicalities of the so-called Hunger Games, Solanum almost immediately started training to get back to her previous self's form. She already realized that the odds were fairly stack against her family at the moment and, although considerably more fortunate as the others, she couldn't leave it to chance. She had to do as much as she could to protect her family.

Solanum remembered thinking with blood running down her knuckles and her thin 6-year old body trembling in exhaustion from a particularly intense training session that she'll do anything and everything, all and beyond, if it meant Solanum wouldn't be alone again - her pack wouldn't die on her again.

(Even if it meant that the loss of chakra - a huge part of who she was before - made the goal more insurmountable than it already was.)

There were times, countless times where she almost gave up. Gave it all up because it hurt too much. She was fragile. Her body was weak - pathetic. And she wasn't even sure if her training was bearing fruit.

She sometimes asked, with her legs burning as if they were about to fall off, her body scraped and bleeding, and her heart beating like drums. Why was she even doing this? Why was she even putting up with this torture? Why her?