Entranceway Reapp - Katniss Everdeen

[calledcatnip]

Name: Arie.
DW username: munaissa.
E-Mail: munaissa[at]live[dot]com.
IM: ariekain.

Other Characters: Noah Puckerman, Katara, Equius, Sirius, and Rarity.

Character Name: Katniss Everdeen.
Series: The Hunger Games.
Timeline: Near the ending of the first book in the trilogy, after she gives Peeta nightlock berries but before the two of them eat them.
Canon Resource Link:Katniss and The Hunger Games.
Character Background: Katniss Everdeen’s story started on May 8th of an unknown year. What is important to know about Katniss’s world is that it is a post-apocalyptic one and that it is set in what used to be known as North America. Now the country is called Panem, and it is divided up into twelve districts. There was a thirteenth district but it was obliterated during the tail end of an uprising against the higher ups who live in a place called the Capitol. The Capitol is supposedly located in the former location of the Rocky Mountains.

When she was growing up, she spent a lot of time with her father, learning to hunt and take care of herself. He taught her everything she knows about nature, hunting, and using a bow and arrow. He also taught her how to swim, but he didn’t have much of a chance to teach her anything else, because when she was 11, her father was killed in a mine explosion. There was nothing left of him to bury.

She was forced to take over leadership of her family, doing what she could to care for her mother and her younger sister Primrose. Despite being forced to grow up quickly and move on from her father’s death, Katniss didn’t ever forget it. She said herself that she still had nightmares about his death, even five years after the fact. Her relationship with her mother was complicated by her father’s death. When her father died, her mother became depressed and mentally checked out. Katniss resents her mother for this, because she was supposed to take care of her and her sister, but instead, she gave up and Katniss was forced to act as a parent and caregiver.

The Everdeen family did receive some money from the district as a sort of compensation for the death of their father and husband, but it was only enough for a month. After that time, Katniss’s mother was expected to get a job. When she failed to do so, Katniss took on the responsibility of providing for her family. If she failed to care for them, then her mother would be deemed unfit and Katniss and Primrose would be sent to the community home. Katniss knew Primrose wouldn’t survive there, so she did whatever she could to care for her.

Things worked for awhile, but then, a few weeks before Katniss’s birthday on May 8th, things took a turn for the worse. Despite Katniss’s best efforts, her family was beginning to starve from a lack of food. She had hoped to survive until May 8th when she would be eligible to sign up for tesserae, which are basically tokens worth a year’s supply of grain and oil that are given to a person in exchange for their name being added additional times to the reaping. Only those who are 12 to 18 years of age are eligible to sign up for this, which is why Katniss was hoping to hold out a few weeks longer.

But as it was, she was forced to search garbage cans for food, which led to an encounter with the baker’s wife. The woman told Katniss to go away and to stop searching through her trash can. Fortunately for Katniss, the baker’s son Peeta Mellark saw this happening and intervened in his own way. He pretended to throw some burned loaves of bread (he may or may not have burned them on purpose) to the pigs, but instead, tossed one to Katniss and quickly went back inside.

The next day when Katniss came to school, she noticed that Peeta was watching her and she quickly looked down. That was when she noticed the first dandelion of the year, and she immediately was reminded of the times she spent with her father, learning to hunt and forage. She began using those skills, increasing her abilities, and started to sell the game she caught to the local black market that was known as the Hob.

Some time after she started her solo hunting, she met a young man named Gale Hawthorne. She accidentally came across his snares, and he found her there, assuming she was going to steal the snares. Gale and Katniss didn’t get along at first, but eventually, they learned to trust each other, and they began to hunt together and shared their knowledge with each other. Gale taught Katniss about snares and Katniss told Gale everything she knew about herbs and archery. They grew close enough to the point that Katniss gave Gale one of her bows. They formed a partnership together, and began trading at the Hob as a way of helping their respective families to survive. The Peacekeepers overlooked these illegal activities because they stood to benefit from them as well. It didn’t matter so much that it was illegal to cross the sometimes-electrified fence as long as they could receive food and other things from Katniss and Gale. As time went by, the two friends became closer and trust grew. They knew each other better than anyone, and they gained a reputation as being great hunters who supplied the Hob with fresh game and fruits. The district mayor and the merchants in the Hob, along with Katniss’s and Gale’s families and the Peacekeepers, all benefited from their skills.

While all of this was going on, with every new year, Katniss would sign herself up for more tesserae, putting her name into consideration for the reaping more times as a way to prevent her sister Primrose from having her name entered too many times. Because of her efforts, by the time Primrose reached the required age for participation in the Hunger Games, her name was entered only once.

When Katniss turned sixteen, her life changed with the reaping for the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Primrose's name was drawn, which took Katniss entirely by surprise. She stepped forward and volunteered as tribute in her sister’s place. She found out that the other tribute from District 12 was none other than the baker’s son Peeta Mellark. After their names were drawn, events moved rather quickly. Katniss came to the Justice Center where she was given the chance to say goodbye to her family and other loved ones. Her mother and Primrose came, as did Gale, Madge (the mayor’s daughter), and Peeta’s father. At this final meeting before Katniss was taken to the Capitol, Primrose made Katniss promise that she would win; Madge gave Katniss her mockingjay pin; Peeta’s father tells her he won’t let her family starve; and Gale attempts to give his friend a last piece of advice, but he is dragged away before he can finish.

After this, Effie Trinket, the one who announced the District 12 tributes, comes and takes them to the train that will bring them to the Capitol. The journey to the Capitol is a long one, but along the way, the two tributes meet their mentor Haymitch Abernathy and get to know him a little.

Finally, they reach the Capitol, and Katniss learns about the parade through the city streets that is about to take place. This parade is designed to show off the tributes, and each one is dressed in a costume reflecting some aspect of their respective districts. Katniss meets her team of stylists who get her ready for the spectacle. This is where she comes to be known as the Girl on Fire. Cinna, the main stylist, creates outfits for her and Peeta that can be lit on fire without causing them any harm. After the parade, which impresses many people, the training and preparation for the games begins.

Haymitch advises Katniss and Peeta to not show their full skills to the gamemakers who will be watching the training sessions. While the group training is going on, Katniss and Peeta discover that they are being watched by a little girl from District 11. This becomes important later on.

Finally, the group training completes and the private sessions begin. Katniss becomes angry with the gamemakers when they ignore her use of a bow and arrows because a roasted pig has just been brought in, and since it seems to be common knowledge that District 12 most likely will not produce any winners. She fires an arrow straight into the apple that was placed into the roasted pig’s mouth, narrowly missing the head gamemaker Seneca Crane. Effie and Haymitch are displeased by this, but it actually pays off when the tributes’ scores are revealed. Katniss earned 11 points for her temper and attitude.

The next thing that the tributes are made to do is participate in a series of interviews with Caesar Flickerman. Cinna prepares her for the interview by designing a new outfit and giving her some advice: to talk to the interviewer as if she was talking to him. To her chagrin, during Peeta’s interview, he says that he is in love with Katniss. This turns her into a sort of celebrity among the Capitol audiences, but it just infuriates her and she briefly turns on Peeta.

Things between them are eventually straightened out on the night before the start of the Games. Katniss and Peeta find themselves unable to sleep, and so they sit together and talk. Peeta tells Katniss that he wants to die as himself, in order to show that he is more than a pawn in the Capitol’s games. The two of them have a minor disagreement, and Katniss leaves him by himself, feeling less than pleased.

The next day, Katniss meets with Cinna one last time in preparation for the start of the Games. As he works on her, he tells her that he’s not allowed to bet on any tributes, but if he could, he’d bet on her. This gives Katniss some confidence, but shortly after, it’s time for the Games to begin.

Katniss’s first move once she is inside the arena and the games have started is to get far away from the giant structure referred to as the Cornucopia. She is ultimately successful, with the exception of a brief encounter with a tribute from District 9. It’s a short encounter, as the boy is knifed in the back by Clove from District 2. Katniss manages to grab one of the backpacks that were placed around the Cornucopia, and once she’s gotten a safe distance away, she inspects the contents of the pack: a sleeping bag, a dropper full of iodine for purifying water, a water bottle, crackers, beef strips, and special glasses that will allow her to see in the dark. Shortly after this, Katniss has a close shave when she runs into Clove. The District 2 tribute throws a knife at her, but she manages to block it with her backpack, thus acquiring a weapon.

As the days go by, Katniss puts as much space between her and the Cornucopia as possible, though her progress is impeded by a lack of water. She nearly dies from this, but fortunately for her, she comes across a small pond. Her progress is hindered even further thanks to an intervention from the gamemakers. They set the woods on fire, forcing Katniss to travel in a different direction. She sustains a rather serious burn on her leg which makes traveling difficult and puts her in further danger. She falls asleep for a short time and wakes up to the sound of footsteps. Katniss realizes then that she’s crossed paths with the so-called Career pack, made up of Cato and Clove from District 2, Marvel and Glimmer from District 1, a girl from District 4, and Peeta. She is pursued by them, but she manages to keep them temporarily at bay when she climbs up a tree.

Cato tries to pursue her, but he finds that he is too heavy to successfully climb the tree. Glimmer attempts to shoot her with her arrows, but she misses. Finally, the Careers decide to just wait for Katniss to come down, and so they make camp and sit and wait. Meanwhile, the young girl from District 11 known as Rue, makes herself known to Katniss. She points out a tracker jacker nest, and Katniss gets the idea to cut off the branch holding the nest, sending it down onto the Careers. She does so, getting stung several times in the process, but she ultimately succeeds. The tracker jackers take the Careers and Peeta completely by surprise, though most of them manage to escape by heading for the nearby lake. Glimmer and the girl from District 4 are less fortunate, however, and both of them die from the multiple stings they receive.

But the surviving Careers and Katniss all were stung, and so they take several days to recover from the confusion and hallucinations brought on by the tracker jacker poison. When Katniss wakes up, she discovers that someone has been taking care of her while she was recovering. That someone is none other than Rue from District 11. The two girls form an alliance, and Katniss tells Rue that she reminds her of Prim, her sister. At first, Katniss attempts to give Rue her mockingjay pin, but the younger girl refuses, because it was the pin that caused her to trust Katniss in the first place.

The two girls share food and information, and eventually devise a plan to destroy the Careers’ food supply. Katniss is of the opinion that the Careers have never been without food, so if the two of them managed to destroy their supplies, they wouldn’t know what to do. The plan is for Rue to create a distraction in the form of several strategically placed fires while Katniss goes to check out the Careers’ campsite.

Once there, she learns that the Careers have placed landmines around their food, and after a little examination of the area, she discovers a way to set off the landmines and get rid of the food. She shoots a well-aimed arrow at a hanging bag of apples, sending them falling to the ground and triggering the mines. However, she was too close to the blast, and ends up damaging her ear. With her hearing slightly compromised, Katniss leaves the clearing and goes off in search of Rue.

She hears the mockingjays echoing Rue’s melody, which was supposed to be their signal. But then she hears Rue calling for her, and she takes off running, knowing that Rue must be in trouble and needing her help. She eventually finds Rue caught in a mesh net, but before she can do anything, the boy from District 1 throws a spear at her, fatally injuring her.

In anger, Katniss fires an arrow at him, killing him instantly. It’s too late for Rue, but in her last moments, the girl asks Katniss to sing to her, which she does. She sings the same song she used to sing to her sister, and Rue dies shortly after. Once Rue is gone, Katniss picks flowers and uses them to cover Rue’s body. Then, she turns and does District 12’s signature gesture of farewell, and after taking the backpacks belonging to Rue and the boy from District 1, she takes her leave.

Some time after this, the gamemakers announce that the rules have changed; now there can be two winners, as long as they are from the same district. In surprise, Katniss calls out Peeta’s name, and goes off in search of him. She eventually finds him hiding in a river thanks to his exceptional camouflage skills. Unfortunately, he’s badly wounded thanks to Cato from District 2. Katniss tries her best to take care of his injuries, but the wound in his leg is too serious for her to treat on her own. Eventually, blood poisoning sets in, and it looks like Peeta may actually die.

Then, the gamemakers make another announcement, saying that there will be a special sort of feast at the Cornucopia, where the tributes will find the thing that they need the most. Knowing that this is her chance to save Peeta’s life, Katniss gathers her things to leave. Peeta tells her not to go, but she insists anyway. He stands his ground and tells her he won’t let her. Katniss’s sponsors choose this moment to send her sleeping syrup which she mixes with berries and gives to Peeta, telling him the berries are sugar berries. He falls asleep for an entire day, which allows Katniss the chance to travel to the Cornucopia.

Once there, she is ambushed by Clove who goads her by talking about Rue’s death and Peeta’s precarious situation. The two girls start to fight but are interrupted by Thresh from District 11. Thresh makes short work of Clove because of her role in Rue’s death. After Clove is dead, Thresh tells Katniss that he’s going to let her escape because she had an alliance with Rue. He also says that he doesn’t want to owe her anymore and that they are now on an even level.

Finally, she leaves the Cornucopia with the medicine and returns to Peeta and the cave, where she uses the medicine on his wounds and hers as well.

During the time the two spend recovering, they learn that Thresh is dead, most likely having been killed by Cato. The two of them talk, and Peeta tells Katniss that he fell in love with her the first time he saw her, on their first day of school. He heard her sing the Valley Song (the one she sings to Prim), and that was when he knew he loved her.

Then, the storm clears and the two of them leave their hiding place to go hunt. They went their separate ways for awhile, but when Katniss whistled for Peeta, there was no answer. She eventually found him, and they had an argument for awhile until the sound of a cannon firing interrupted them. They realize that the girl known only as Foxface is dead.

After this, they make the discovery that the ponds and rivers have all been drained, meaning that the gamemakers must want them to go to the lake. They successfully reach their destination where they wait for Cato, the only remaining tribute to arrive. He does, but it’s not what they expected. They realize he’s being pursued by muttations, creatures that were created specifically for the Games by the gamemakers. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato run towards the Cornucopia and climb on top of it. Peeta gets caught by one of the mutts who injures him.

By the time the three tributes reach the top of the Cornucopia, Cato realizes exactly what’s happening and he turns on the District 12 tributes. He grabs Peeta with a chokehold and forces him to the edge. It’s a tense situation with Cato having the upper hand. But the situation changes quickly with Katniss making her move and firing an arrow through Cato’s hand. Cato releases Peeta, but he falls off the Cornucopia. The mutts attack him and after hours of listening to the mutts attacking Cato, Katniss decides to shoot him with an arrow, more out of pity than revenge.

Once Cato is dead, the gamemakers make yet another announcement, telling Katniss and Peeta that the former rule has been revoked. Now there can only be one winner, and now they must fight to the death. At first, Katniss aims her bow at Peeta, thinking he’s going to attack, but then he throws his weapon away. Then, Katniss gets an idea. She takes out a handful of nightlock berries and shows them to Peeta. The plan now is for them to eat the berries, killing each other so that there will be no winner, thus humiliating the Capitol. Before anything happen, however, Katniss is swept away to Wonderland.
Abilities/Special Powers: Hunting: Katniss learned how to hunt from a very early age. Her father taught her everything she knows about tracking and killing. Her weapon of choice is the bow. She learned about trapping from her friend Gale Hawthorne, and she also learned about herbs and medicines from her father. Aside from using the bow and arrow, she learned how to handle a knife and how to climb trees, even on the thinnest of branches. These skills served her well during her time in the Hunger Games.

She also inherited her father’s gift of singing, which, while it hasn’t directly helped her survive, is definitely a skill in itself. She used to sing to her sister, and while she was in the arena, she sang to Rue before she died.
Third-Person Sample: Katniss knew she hated the mansion. She knew she hated being separated from Prim, Gale, Peeta, her mother, everyone. She just wanted to go home, but there was no way that was going to happen.

The mansion was like a prison, even more of a prison than the arena was. At least there was a way out of the arena.

Here in Wonderland, there is only one place where Katniss feels like she can be herself: the woods. She found a bow, and even though there hasn’t been anything to hunt that she knows of, just carrying it makes her feel better. Of course, it would be better if Gale were with her, but when she’s in the woods, she can imagine that she is back home in District 12, waiting for the perfect moment to take down a deer or some other game. And of course, Gale is right there with her, silently watching her target.

But these woods are empty, and no one ever seems to go into them. Except for Katniss. It’s almost as though she can’t stay away. She walks silently through the forest and comes to a clearing in the woods. The grass is long and tall, and Katniss sets her bow down. She lies down flat on the grass and takes in the sun and the sky above her.

It’s peaceful and pleasant, but at the same time, it feels wrong. It doesn’t match up with the unrest and chaos that Katniss knows is happening at home, even without her there. Then, completely on a whim, she stands up and raises her hand in the farewell gesture from District 12.

She hopes that even though she’s just said goodbye, one day, she’ll return to District 12.
First-Person Sample:

[Katniss glances at the camera. She’s discovered that she has no real use for the thing, Using it to talk to people feels cumbersome and unnecessary, and for that reason, she avoids it.

But today, she’s feeling restless, and so she turns on the video feed, and starts talking.]

I’m going outside. I feel like taking a walk, if anyone wants to come.

[She expects that no one will, so she shoulders her bow and arrows, and heads for the doors as the video feed shuts off.]