Our Anthem

Prologue

A/N: I'll say again, this story features major spoilers for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. If you have not read it and/or don't like spoilers, I strongly advise that you DO NOT read this. Thank you and please enjoy!

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The story of Katniss Everdeen is widely known, or so it was thought. The girl who grew up to be Katniss Everdeen had a pretty lousy start to her life.

She was born not in the coal mining District Twelve, but instead on the islands of Hebridia, which was all that remained of an old country called Scotland. She was one of many, the firstborn child of Dòmhnall and Eilidh Fòlais. Katniss Fòlais was her name, and she had a twin brother called Dòmhnall, two younger twin brothers called Cailean and Calum, a sister called Ashilda, and two more twin brothers called Alasdair and Anndra. Eilidh had a brother called Eairsaid Everdeen, pronounced Archie, and he had a family of his own - his wife, his older daughter, and his younger daughter, Primrose.

But the storms that attacked Hebridia became too dangerous, and it became harder and harder to survive on the remaining islands, so the Fòlais family and the Everdeen family hopped on the first ship they could find to Panem, having heard excellent things about the land and how it cared for its people. No one outside of Panem knew about the dreadful Hunger Games, so Eairsaid and Dòmhnall had no reason to fear for their children's lives. They were both poor families, so District Twelve was their only option.

The ship was attacked by pirates, and young Katniss Fòlais found herself separated from her family along with her twin brother, Dòmhnall, who was later murdered by a pirate before her very eyes. Katniss had been eight years old at the time, and all she had left was her uncle, Eairsaid, who's name was changed to Archie, and her young cousin, Primrose. In Panem, Archie met and fell in love with a woman by the name of Agnessa, who had come to Panem with her family from Hebridia long before the Everdeens ever did. Archie has adopted Katniss as his daughter, and all of District Twelve believed that they were a complete family.

The story of Katniss from the time she was eleven, upon the death of Archie in the mines, does not change, but her status as a refugee earned her even more spite from the people of both the town and the Seam. Refugees were viewed as another mouth to feed, and to some, subhuman. But Katniss demanded respect wherever she went, and even pursued a well-respected career amongst those in District Twelve. When she wasn't hunting in the woods, she was apprenticing as a midwife, assisting the mothers of District Twelve with their births. Despite her status as a refugee, Katniss became well respected and even admired amongst the people in her district, and became even more so when she won the Hunger Games along with her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark.

Come the Third Quarter Quell, Katniss is thrown into the arena once more, along with Peeta, and the rebels freed both of the District Twelve tributes along with Finnick Odair of District Four, Johanna Mason of District Seven and Beetee Latier of District Three. The tributes were brought to the previously unknown District Thirteen, where Katniss learned that two of her brothers, Cailean and Calum, and her father had survived the attack on their ship.

A little rushed, is it? Well, I'm too excited to tell you my story. You see, I'm Katniss Everdeen, or Katniss Fòlais, as I now prefer considering I am now free of the Capitol. I will go into detail more as I tell my story, but I don't want to give away too much too early. So, President Snow, if you're watching this, know now that I am telling my story to inspire the citizens of Panem to rise up and take down the harsh regime that you have created.

Fire is catching, and if we burn, then you'll burn with us.