{Mockingjay's Daughter}

{Chapter 6}

{Chapter 6}

I'm awoken to the smell of bacon and the sounds of feet walking around downstairs. I sit up in my bed, for a moment panicking as I realize I'm not at home, in my room. Wait, I'm in Rory's house, my new home, mom and dad are dead. Great thoughts to wake up to.

I look over at Ash's bed to find it empty. He must already be downstairs. With a loud tired sigh, I sit up. It's District Day today, the anniversary of the end of the war. Normally I would be spending it at home with Uncle Haymitch, grandma, and my parents... But now I'm with the Hawthornes.

Still slightly woozy from just waking up, I stand up from the bed. I should get downstairs, talk to Rory, see who had arrived while I was asleep. But for a moment I just stood there, a new idea coming to mind. My parent's died. Why? Were they killed? Who killed them? What-?

Sighing, I snap out of it. I rub my eyes before going to my bags and pulling out a casual t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants. I quickly change and pull my hair into a ponytail, not bothering to brush it. Satisfied that I look at least decent, I leave Ash and I's bedroom.

I walk down the hallway, for some reason deciding to be quiet as I walked as if I didn't want anyone to know I was there. I peered downstairs, seeing someone walk by the base of the stairs, I think it was Rory. Deciding to just get over with the awkward introductions, I sigh and go downstairs.

As I reach the bottom of the stairs I hear Rory's voice from the kitchen, so I decide to head there. I quietly step into the doorway, trying not to bring much attention to myself. Rory stood in front of the stove, chuckling about something that the other person in the kitchen said. I couldn't tell who it was, but I knew the Hawthorne family had three grown men and another woman. This other person was obviously a man, and his dark hair had a sprinkle of gray.

"Ah, Sage!" I jump as Rory notices me. He smiles at me, obviously trying to make me comfortable in a house full of strangers.

The other man turns around, eyebrow raised. He has the same gray eyes as Rory, but looks much better built. He wears the outfit of a high ranked official, and a District 2 patch on his chest. I know I've seen him before somewhere, TV or something. When he sees me, his face goes blank.

"So you're Katniss's kid, eh?" he asks. I nod, still unsure which one of Rory's brothers this was. He looks at me, as if trying to find something else to say.

"Eh, Sage, this is Gale." Rory introduces me. I look back at Gale, loosing respect for the man in front of me.

"So you were my mom's friend, right?" I ask. Gale nods stiffly. "You know she's dead, right?"

Gale sighs and turns back to Rory, ignoring my comment. I've grown numb to the subject of my parents, but it still pissed me off how Gale avoided my mom for forever. Rory looked between Gale and I for a moment.

"Eh, Ash is in the living room if you're looking for him." Rory told me, obviously sensing that I didn't want to be in the same room as his brother.

I nod, leaving the kitchen without so much as a look at Gale. Walking into the living room, I immediately notice that Ash and I aren't the only children in the house. There's boy a around my age with the signature Hawthorne look, or as my mom would call it, the "Seam" look, then another little girl who's probably a bit younger than Ash. Ash laughs at something the little girl said, and the other guy seems to be ignoring them, though a slight blush dusts his cheeks.

They all kneel around a coffee table, pencils and papers scrawled on top. They seem to be drawing, and of course Ash is showing off as usual. Three adults sit on the couches, a woman and a man who looks like Rory and another man who I assume to be the woman's husband or something.

"Sage! C'mere!" Ash calls attention to me, waving me over to the coffee table. I feel six pairs of eyes on me as I try to casually go to the table.

I kneel down at the end of the table, feeling awkward as the adults resume their conversation. The kids I'm assuming to be Rory's relatives look at me curiously.

"This is Sage!" my brother points to me, introducing me to the people who I'm assuming he already made friends with. "Sage, this is Bay-" he points to the boy- "And Charlotte." he points to the little girl.

"Uh, nice to meet you." I nod to them quickly before Ash continues.

"We're drawing, wanna draw with us?" my little brother asks enthusiastically. I mumble "Sure" before he continues talking gibberish. "Bay here is a real good drawer! He drew a picture of me and it looks really good!"

He then shoves the picture in my face, as if I couldn't already see it from a normal distance. I grab his hands and lean away from the picture so that it's not directly in my face, and I had to admit it was pretty good.

"Wow, not too shabby," I say, looking over at the Hawthorne boy.

"Thanks," he says timidly, as if he's not used to being complimented. I notice slight differences about him from the other Hawthorne’s, like instead of having the gray eyes of a Seam person, his eyes are a dark brown. "So you're Ash's sister then?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"Why are you guys at Uncle Rory's in the first place?" the little girl suddenly speaks up. I guess Ash hasn't filled them in at all.

"Um, our parent's died so he offered to let us live with him." I explain. Well, not fully explain, but it was a summary.

"Oh," Bay says. I expect him to say something like I'm sorry for your loss, or They're in a better place but instead he says "Well that kind of sucks."

I can't help but laugh at this, the bluntness of the comment. "Yea, it does." I say. "What about you guys? I'm guessing you're related to Rory somehow?"

"He's our uncle, and Charlotte is my cousin." Bay explains. "My dad is Vick, and Charlotte's mom is my aunt."

 "Oh." I said. So Gale doesn't have any children?

"They know all the nooks and crannies of this house, too!" Ash says. "They already told me that they'd show me the attic later!"

"Uh, okay." at this point the conversation is just Ash rambling, so I just let him go on talking.

My eyes wander over to Bay, who absorbs himself into drawing another picture. Charlotte and Ash have a rambling-fest, talking about the house and Rory's family. I sigh, deciding to attempt to draw something, though I know it won't be near as good as Ash's drawings.

It also won't be as good as Dad's were.