✂ Strings ✂ Katelyn One-shot (Bachelorette Prologue)

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KATELYN PERSIMMON

Three days in the arena and both of them were still alive. It wasn’t by much but it was better than last games. She had described the arena as being hell before, but this year, it was true in the most literal sense. No source of fresh water. No food. And the landscape… Katelyn shook her head. There was a rising betting pool on how long it would be before a tribute turned to cannibalism in order to survive. Her heart went out to all of the tributes, but Iona and Weaver especially. Somehow, they had managed to scrape together enough sponsorship to send them a few things, but it was barely a drop in the bucket.

She was watching the day’s fight from the sponsor hall in apprehension. The mutts were more dangerous this year than they had been lately, the boy from three had died and he was just the latest in a line of tributes killed by the animals. Gamemaker meddling had separated the two largest alliances and her tributes were weathering a large fight with multiple attackers. Every wound that opened up on their bodies sent a wave of panic down her spine. Her eyes flicked from person to person on the screen before settling on Daniel Tate from seven. She felt it a moment before it happened.

She’d always known that seven would come for her tributes one day. Tate fumbled with his crossbow, nocking a bolt back and aiming at Iona, who was still reeling from being stabbed in the back. He pulled the trigger and Iona’s head snapped back, a bolt impaling her throat. There was no surviving that. Katelyn grabbed her own neck reflexively, rubbing the scar that Margaret’s spear had left in the finale. “Dammit. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!” she screeched as her voice rose in volume. Her shoulders sagged. It was a bad way to go, and now Weaver was alone. The scene changed to another fight in time to show one of Mace’s tributes get his head bashed in with a flail. Yet another cannon went off.

The Truus girl reacted swiftly after the death of her partner and killed the girl from three. Another one. The girl from twelve was cut down and then the camera cut back to Weaver. He was in a bad spot. Both Fives, Both Sevens and a career from two. Weaver did his best to survive the onslaught, but he was being attacked from too many sides. The girl from five got behind him and stabbed him in the back, and it was over. Katelyn let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. So much for your threats Achilles. She thought bitterly. I hope when you die it’s quick. She ran to the restroom, ignoring the people that recognized her and locked the door behind her.

The bathroom counter was quickly gripped by both of her hands as she steadied herself, shoulders sagged in defeat. The number of tributes she had lost was now more than double the number she had saved. It was little to no comfort to know that that was still more than at least a dozen victors could say. How long before two years of failure turned into five? Ten? Twenty? She took a couple shuddering breaths and tried to blink back the tears. She had never wanted this; whole families suffering because she had helped two of eleven’s sons.

Katelyn stared at her reflection, unable to remember the last time she’d had a good night’s sleep. She was overwhelmed. Her legs felt weak, wobbly and then she collapsed to the floor, her knees giving out. A sob escaped her chest and she buried her face in the palm of her hand, feeling warm tears.

Most victors never had the relief of seeing a kid in their charge come back alive. Was it better to start failing after succeeding instead of never succeeding at all? She couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she was exhausted and next holiday dinner there would be another empty seat at the table. If there was another Rhodes or Miristioma the following year, or God help them one of each, she didn’t know what she’d do. Kirito had his problems, but he was on the road to recovery with Oasis’s help, but she wasn’t sure how Harbinger would deal; and how it would wind up affecting Navya in the process. Kirito might have anger management problems, but if Harb started hitting the bottle hard…

She had so many people to care about she wondered if she was stretched too thin. Katelyn started crying again. She was strong, but she wasn’t invincible. She had failed the Holbrooks. And now Weaver was dead too. The tears came fast. Katelyn wailed at the injustice of it all and forced herself back to her feet. After a moment, she collected herself, smothering the ache in her heart, drying her eyes and then spent a minute to fix her hair in the bathroom mirror before heading out, only to bump into someone that was standing directly outside the door.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Persimmon.” A lyrical voice said. She raised an eyebrow and stared.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Charles Tinselton, and you, Kate, have been selected to be the first ever Bachelorette!” Katelyn’s stomach lurched and she looked at the man in confusion. Then she noticed the camera drone, and the other people standing around him. A sinking feeling hit her chest.

“The…what?”

“The Bachelorette. It’s a new reality show that we’ve just gotten the okay for!” Charles winked and continued on with a smile that would have made Caesar Flickerman proud. “Our wonderful president has noticed that many of our honored victors are still single or can’t keep things steady. With our help, you’ll be on the road to meeting a special someone or maybe even matrimony!”

Katelyn’s eye twitched. Was this moron serious? Seriously? The president was trying to get her to star in a reality show in the middle of the games. Unbelievable. She lost her cool and her exclamation caused Charles, this cameraman and the two avoxes to jump in surprise and fear. “I DON”T FUCKING HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” She pointed hard at the screen behind her and lowered her volume whilst fixing Charles with a hard stare. “Iona’s dead! Weaver’s dead! I have a shit ton of paperwork to fill out for the funeral arrangements. Go bother a victor that isn’t busy!”

“They said you might say something like that about your tributes.” Tinselton said with a blush of embarrassment. “Iona and Weaver.” She said through gritted teeth. Charles went on. “I was instructed to give you this, if you declined. They said you’d understand, but I certainly don’t see what’s special about it.” Katelyn raised an eyebrow as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden spoon. A few seconds later her teeth clenched as realization dawned on her.

It was a replica of Iain’s token. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Was her number up? Was this Snow’s way of telling her to act the part she was supposed to be instead of the person she was? Had to be. Was this because of the few things she’d said on live television? Because eleven had kept winning? The Rhodes and Miristioma’s had such large families with so many of reaping age that it easy to punish them. Katelyn? There was no blood that Snow could send into the arena. Couldn’t keep her in line with that threat. But threatening the other families if she didn’t play along with whatever they wanted her to do?

That was bull. And there was no guarantee that Rhodes or Miristioma’s wouldn’t get reaped anyway. She fumed silently for a few minutes, weighing her options in a rage, before grinding her teeth together and watching as Charles reacted to the noise in discomfort.

Good.

“I’ll do the show.” She said heavily. Maybe they’d be spared next year. She didn’t want to see Drogon or Laia, Wesley or Hachiro or Tobias up on the big screen. No more. Her voice was quiet but her eyes were alight with cold fury. “Explain the rules to me.” Charles prattled on with joy, explaining that a small pool of contestants would be chosen from all the applicants, and then they’d go on dates with her over a small period of time. At the end of each date, someone of her choosing would be sent home, and on and on until only one was left. That one would then have the option of pursuing a relationship with her, picking a fabulous prize out instead or simply turning her down if they weren’t feeling it.

It wasn’t as bad as she had expected at first. The words “arranged marriage” had blared through her brain at first. Maybe that would have been too hard to pull off. “Well, that’s not too bad.” She said after a moment. "I’m sure some hopefuls in the districts will feel like they won the lottery, just getting to go to the Capitol without fear of dying.” She said with a grimace. Charles Tinselton paused. “Er.., It’s only open to Capitol residents. They don’t want to send trains out while the games are in session. It’s not cost effective.” God forbid any inkling of district unity. She thought sourly to herself. A dating completion with a bunch of Capitolites? A televised dating competition? There were plenty of things she would have preferred doing to that. Including, but not limited to flinging herself into the sun.

She could feel the panic physically setting in. But she was Katelyn Persimmon wasn’t she? She could handle this. All she had to do was find the silver lining. The good in the situation. Perhaps she would actually meet someone. She groaned. It was hard to remember the last time she had talked to someone who wasn’t a victor about anything meaningful.

Harbinger had Navya. Kirito had Oasis.

She had…

No one.

Her entire life had revolved around the games for almost five years. And in the off season she spent most of her time helping people out around the district. There wasn’t much time for having a personal life, whether she felt lonely sometimes or not. She pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers; she could feel a headache coming on. At the very least, the Capitol was paying for her to go on expensive dates. She’d play their game. Maybe play one of her own. Though she loathed it, being on screen more often might help the next time she needed to find sponsors. Charles insisted that she follow his little entourage, and she complied, walking with them for several minutes until they arrived at a studio.

“We just need to shoot a few promos really quick.” He said happily. “We’ve got a mansion that you and the contestants will be spending time in together, but well, we need to attract the contestants first, don’t we?” Katelyn nodded slowly. “Now, can we take your measurements? You’re going to be wearing several different outfits every day and we need to get started now!” Katelyn bit her bottom lip.

“I swear if you put me in some kind of skimpy swimsuit for one of the dates I’ll kill you.” She warned. Charles started babbling about how exciting everything they had planned was going to be and signaled one of the avoxes to start taking her measurements. Katelyn complied and stared at the ceiling, boring holes into it with her eyes. It was going to take a while for her to cool down, and she doubted she’d be able to un-tense. A dating show? She brooded uncomfortably.

She wondered how long it would be before all of Panem knew that Katelyn Persimmon, victor of the sixty-ninth hunger games, ice queen, the lioness and two time successful mentor had never been in a relationship.

Or even had her first kiss for that matter.

I need to bake a cake. She thought with a pout.

“We’ll have to get you into something nicer.” Charles said in a thoughtful tone. Katelyn reared her head back and looked down at her clothes. Jeans. Tank top. Bandanna. “What’s wrong with the way I dress?” she said sharply. Charles waved his hands profusely and apologized. “I meant no offense, not all, I just mean that for the promo’s it’d be better if you dressed more alluring as opposed to er…practical?” he finished with an awkward smile. Katelyn gave him a look that would have withered flowers faster than a wildfire. She dressed like this in the Capitol on purpose. Skirts and dresses and fun outfits were for eleven, where she felt comfortable. What she wore wasn’t intended to be practical it was meant to remind people in the Capitol that she was a victor.

“Fine.” She said in annoyance.

The avoxes bustled her away to a changing room at Charles direction and Katelyn went with them. Eventually they selected a crimson dress with black heels. It had no sleeves, but they gave her a small leather jacket to wear with it. She was thankful that the outfit included black stockings as it was fairly see-through in the right light. After that they set about doing her makeup and styling her hair, as apparently a simple ponytail wasn’t enough. Katelyn sat in the chair unmoving, but her heart started beating faster. The room was reminiscent of the one she’d been in before giving her tribute interview.

They ushered her out into the filming area, which was cold, sterile and grey. Charles beamed. “You’re a vision of loveliness my dear.” Katelyn motioned for him to get on with it and he did. She stood in front of the green screen, walking when he said to, smiling when he said to, and posing as the people in the studio did their jobs. They had to do several takes as Charles claimed she was too stiff at first, like she was uncomfortable.

The irony of his statement appeared to be lost on him.

She decided to go to her happy place while they filmed and that seemed to generate more pleasant emotions on her face, at least judging by Charles’s exclamations. Instead of thinking about the room and the Capitolites she was going to be going on dates with she thought about holiday dinners with the Rhodes and Miristiomas; about the small moments of comfort and rest she had had with her allies in the games. She even thought about walking on the beach with Mayor Perch, and how he had made an effort to talk to her like a normal person. By the time Charles called for them to stop, she was in a better mood. “Let’s take a look at them shall we?” Katelyn watched the screen and wondered.

The first one showcased her walking through a wheat field, staring off into the distance and moving slowly, some happy but sappy music playing in the background, something about being a country gal without someone to call her own. She appreciated the use of the fiddle, but she figured it was synthesized. It wasn’t like any of the musicians in eleven were known in the Capitol. The next one had her standing by an apple tree, picking one off of the fruits and taking a bite out of it with a sultry glance at the camera. There were a few other scenes with nature, one with her holding an axe and another where it was snowing with the ice castle in the background. Most of them contained a voiceover from Charles Tinselton talking about her age, her looks, her interests and a general description of the show.

“The Bachelorette” was then written in sparkly cursive by an invisible hand before the last scene faded out to be replaced with information on how to apply. “Wonderful!” Charles crowed.

That wasn’t the word she would have used to describe it.

“We’ll begin airing these right away! Can’t wait to see the first contestants, we’ll be having an open call right here in the studio!”

Katelyn smiled humorlessly and headed back to the changing room.
It was going to be a long day.

*******************************
As it turned out, the dressing room reminded her of the interview preparation room for a reason. The promo’s had barely been airing for a few hours when Charles came and found her again; he wanted to film an interview to air before they finalized the contestants, let people know more about her. In seemingly no time at all, she was back in the red dress and back in front of a camera, although this time, she had a seat, and Charles was sitting across from her. “Thank you for tuning in and welcome to the Bachelorette!” He went on, throwing praise and admiration her way before moving on to a couple questions. Katelyn sighed and crossed her legs.

“You know something, Katelyn. If you’re ever paid attention to wonderful publications like Victor’s View, you’ll know that there are fans out there who are betting on how long it would take for you to wind up with one of the other district eleven victors. Care to comment?” Katelyn laughed awkwardly. “They’re like little brothers to me. I don’t think dating them is in the cards.” A sound effect that sounded like a crowd awing in disappoint echoed around the room. “Well, there are plenty of other victors out there. There are fans out there that ship you and Opal Earnest after all.”


“I’m sorry, ship?” she asked in bewilderment. “It’s short for relationship. Victor pairings are all the rage you know.” He said with a sagely nod to the camera before turning back to her. “But speaking of other victors, what do you think about Mr.Emberstatt?” Katelyn was still trying to process what he’d just said, but she answered. “Mace? Mace is a man of few words. Real down to earth. He’s got a sort of rugged charm about him, that and a deep sadness.” Charles tutted and gave her a knowing look.

“So tell us, are the rumors about you and him true?” Katelyn paused, not liking where this was going.

“What rumors?”

“We have eyewitnesses that attest to you often bringing him and his kids all sorts of baked goodies.”

“Yes,” Katelyn replied uncertainly.

“But what does that have to..?” Charles waved a hand to cut her off. “Well, some of viewers are simply eager to know whether or not you’ve let Mace into your cookie jar.” "What?” she replied sharply.  “My..?” She figured it out one flabbergasted second later and her jaw dropped in horror at what the host was implying. “No! What, no. Nooo. No, we’re friends. He just has a sweet tooth and I enjoy baking, that’s all.” Charles stroked his chin and stared thoughtfully. “Well, if he doesn’t like fruit, could you confirm that he has a taste for a certain little red spice?” Katelyn stared at the host in disbelief.

“You should ask him, not me.” She managed, silently praying that the few friends she had didn’t die of embarrassment when this aired. Charles tutted again, “I suppose we are getting a bit off topic, but who doesn’t want to get the scoop from an inside source? What about your past relationships? Any jealous exes out there steaming?”

Katelyn grimaced.“No, Charles, I’ve never been in a relationship. Serious or otherwise.” Charles scoffed. “Oh come now, not even in the training center? Tributes hook up all the time! No schoolyard crush stealing kisses under the cherry trees? Huh. Man did his homework. Not many people knew that her family ran a cherry orchard. Katelyn sighed inwardly. Might as well get it over with.  “I’ve uh…I’ve never been kissed.” She said, feeling her face redden with a blush. For once, she saw genuine emotion on Charles face in the form of surprise.

“Did you hear that folks? Twenty-one years old and she’s never even had a kiss! My word, it’s a good thing we got here when we did." “Well,” Katelyn said with false sweetness. “It’s a bit hard to think about love when I’m under the pressure of mentoring. It’s like having kids of my own that could die at any moment.” “Ah-heh. We’ll be right back after these messages.” Charles coughed and cast a harried glance at the camera. The light went off and Katelyn knew they had stopped recording. “Just one teensy suggestion.” Charles said with a worried grin, holding up his thumb and index finger and squeezing them together.

“It would probably be a good idea to focus on talking about yourself and more…romantic things than say…death? People can get their fill of live and death drama by watching the games, we want to give them something different with this show.”

That headache started to come back.

“Let’s try to keep this segment more light-hearted, shall we?”

Katelyn bit her lip. Great. They were probably going to cut that, and anything else negative she said about the games. Whether the Tri11ogy, as they were sometimes referred to as in written publications, had Capitolite fans that wanted a fourth member or not, the government did not want eleven to keep winning. At some point, she was going to have to make her peace with that, much as Arbor Halt had about district twelve. But not now. The camera light turned back on after a flurry of hand motions from Charles and once again he wore a smile that could have been drawn on by a good makeup artist.

“So you were saying something about baking?” he asked innocently. “Tell us, what do you like to make?” Katelyn offered a matching fake smile to the prompt. “Oh, anything you can think of; pies, cakes, cookies, and tarts. The list goes on. I cook too.” Charles nodded approvingly. “I’m getting hungry just hearing about it.” Katelyn sighed inwardly, letting her mind drift towards the future and what the dates might entail. She imagined she’d be getting to see parts of the Capitol that she never bothered to before; there were hundreds of places to go for just about anything a person could think of, from cafes to nightclubs. She sincerely hoped that at least some of them didn’t revolve around the games, not like some of the few places she had been.

Katelyn rested her chin on her knuckles and smiled coyly at the camera upon the host’s insistence. He thanked one of the show’s sponsors, the makers of Colgate Toothpaste ™(The only toothpaste that’ll clean your mouth better than soap), but at that point, Katelyn wasn’t listening anymore. She took solace in hoping that the show couldn’t be all bad, and speculated about what sort of Capitolites would take an interest.

And whether or not they were actually up to dealing with her.

"It breaks my heart, all these stories,
brings me to tears all this grief;
And I feel so fucking helpless
when I can't be your relief."

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