Thread: A Mockingjay Fettered (HeavenSundered & Randomname)

A hard kick to her ribs sent Katniss rolling on to her back before she could manage to pull the waistband of her pants back up and regain her footing. Clutching her side, she groaned heavily as tendrils of pain spread out from the point of impact, leaving her unable to defend herself against her assailants when they all rushed her again, this time with fury in their eyes. Still reeling from the kick, her struggling proved insufficient as two of the bandits yanked her up by her arms before roughly shoving her back against a tree, keeping her pinned there. Meanwhile, their leader scooped up the bow and quiver of arrows that Katniss had lost during the scuffle. He inspected and weighed the bow momentarily before nocking an arrow and aiming it straight at her chest. Her grey eyes widened with terror when she realized what the maniac planned to do. NNNUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! the girl roared defiantly, her muscles straining hard as she desperately tried to rip herself free from the clutches of the two men holding her arms. Katniss didn't want to die, and especially not like this - not by the bow that her own late father had lovingly crafted for her. If he was out there, watching somehow, she didn't want him to have to see that. Unfortunately, despite possessing a surprising amount of strength for a thin girl of average stature, measuring only five feet and seven inches, it was still far from enough to overpower the two larger and stronger men. Katniss hated crying, but she couldn't stop her eyes from growing moist with tears as they focused in on the tip of the arrow pointed at her. Her chest heaved up and down with panicked, shallow breaths while her heart pounded furiously in her chest, expecting death to come at any moment. When she heard a noise and registered a sudden movement, Katniss thought that was it, clenching her eyes shut and turning her head away involuntarily, expecting to feel the arrow piercing through her body. And yet...she felt nothing. Instead, she heard a loud thud, followed by some surprised and angry shouts, as well as one new, gruff voice that sounded oddly familiar. Her mind was too jumbled to make the connection, but when she finally dared to open her eyes, Katniss recognized Troy Smith from school. Having always been the time to keep mostly to herself, and going especially out of her way to avoid the haughty Townies, she didn't really know him personally. She'd might have heard through the grapevine that he was a good person, and she knew that her father used to do business with the Smiths when he was still alive and working in the coal mine, but she'd never bothered to learn more. No matter what Katniss thought about Townies, though, she was still extremely relieved and grateful for Troy showing up when he did. One of the two men let go of her to go after Troy instead while the other wrapped an arm around her torso, keeping both her arms pinned against her body as he raised a knife to her throat. Seeing Troy outnumbered two and soon to be three to one after he'd risked his own life to save hers outraged and concerned Katniss even more than the threat to herself. Acting on pure instinct, she slammed her head back into the bandit's jaw, hurting and stunning him badly enough that she was able to wrench herself free from his grasp. Ignoring the pain spreading through her own head, Katniss grabbed the man's wrist with both hands, twisting it until he dropped the knife before throwing him over her hip, using his own weight against him to slam him down to the ground. Feeling around for the knife, she found it and raised it high while looking down at him with an almost crazed look of loathing in her eyes. Part of her wanted to just drive the blade into the bastard's heart as revenge for what he and his buddies tried doing to her, and to avoid stop him from even doing it to anyone else, but she hesitated, and he took off running into the woods. Remembering Troy, Katniss scrambled back to her feet, finally succeeding in pulling her pants back up before rushing to his aid.