Synopsis: Told from Gales point of view, the development and embellishment of Katniss's fire as she goes through life with Gale by her side. 5 day's until the movie-5 days of a Mockingjay.
(Will most likely be 5 chapters)
I saw her sitting there, up in that lush and dense tree. I remember a small leering spider casually fall onto her arm. Unlike most girls who would just shove it away, she gently greeted it and analyzed it crawl up and down her arm intrigued by its living. I remember her asking me a question that I thought was too in depth for me to ever answer, or for me to ever understand although it had the simplest reasoning.
I remember every touch, every whisper, every laugh and every pain she had. I shared them with her and we fought through them together. Though she had something that set me apart from the one she truly did love and what it was I still long to figure out. Something had always set her apart from everyone else, and that I learned to be as fire. It came in many different forms. An ignition which led to a spark, later engulfed by a flame, followed by a fire and in the end was only left with embers. Her fire started a change, but in the end she didn't want to create a bigger fire, so she put it out. She shunned my fire because instead she wanted to kindle hers with the warmth and love of someone else.
Someone who wasn't me.
Chapter 1: The Ignition
The leaves rustled and the tree's swayed as gusts of wind plundered through the depths of the lush and dense forest. I remembered that entering the forest was nothing more than a small form of torture. It reminded me of why I was entering a forbidden place. The wired fence deprived of electricity taunted me with memories of the past, and thoughts of tomorrow.
My father's death was always the first memory to spike up in mind. The wails, screams and cries that I heard coming from the mines the day I was removed from school to be told of the news of my father, haunt me to this day. I could never walk past those mines without reliving the painful blood-curdling screams of the unknown that occurred that day. I was forced to risk my life to scavenge for food in the forest now that my dad couldn't provide for us. Easily my family could have taken out tesserae, yet I didn't want to put my siblings at more risk for being a contender in the brutal Hunger Games. After these train of thoughts it always resulted in the curiosity of one of my siblings was chosen for the Hunger Games. Even as I would try to shy away from the thought, I couldn't help wondering. The thought always made me shudder, and it still does thinking about one of my loved ones being brutally killed.
I had made my way through the fence every day with an ongoing hatred for the capitol. As I huffed curse words would follow the anticipating anger. Yet, when I always entered into the depths if the forest, all of those thoughts disappeared and were replaced by a feeling of serenity and peace but most of all, hope.
An array of pinecones, leaves, mossy branches and rocks covered the hard ground with some grass peeking through the fallen and scattered nature that day. The wind harmonically whistled through the trees as it rustled the leaves and calmly shook their branches. The way the forest moved was a beautiful rhythm. All aspects came together to create a beautiful symphony. The sun's radiant heat would always tickle my nose, as the smell of fresh grass filled my senses. The whirling wind made me slightly shiver as the kiss of floating pollen intrigued my senses. It's was beautiful, and one of the only things left pure in the world.
I had set up a few snares the day before, because that week I had been forced to arrive back home earlier then I usually did. My little sister Posy was sick and my mom needed my help. Naturally, I set up a few more snares in hope that I could sell some meat and be able to buy medicine.
I adequately remembered where I placed each snare. Going to check the first one my happiness vanished: It was empty. I ran to quickly check the second snare and to my surprise: empty. Then I went to check my final snare; my last hope. The only way of feeding my family that night would be if there were an animal in my last snare. I had shut my eyes tight praying for there to be something in the snare. That's when I found it, along with the others: empty. I was devastated because I'd always been able to catch at least one animal and that was usually with only 2 snares, instead on this occasion in which I had set up 3. That was when I heard it, a soft rubbing against bark. I looked around me, but there was nothing. I continued to hear that sound, when suddenly a few twigs had dropped on my head. Curiously, I looked up, and that was when I saw her.
Above me in a tree was a small girl, probably a bit younger than me. She looked familiar yet I couldn't place her name. She had dark brown hair, olive skin and grey eyes: the typical seam look. She was minding her own business sitting in the tree, yet, she had three bloodied squirrels in her hand. How did she get those? I had thought to myself. She didn't have any weapons, and I was positive someone young like her wouldn't be able to kill it with her bare hands.
That's when it struck me and a new posing anger rose inside of me, and my inside thoughts were no longer kept inside as I yelled "Hey, those are my catches!"
She looked stunned and nearly fell off the tree. Her eyes grew wide and she looked a bit hesitant. But her expressions fooled me because she came back quick, sharp and witty.
"It's called a forest, one that you shouldn't be in, who's going to stop me from taking a precious little squirrel?" She grinned.
I saw the fire in her eyes. It was a similar passion that I had in mine. We both needed food to survive and bring back to our families, but I wasn't going to back down just from some witty remark.
"Well," I concededly began "You're really going to be like them aren't you?"
She furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms before questioning me. "What do you mean like them?" she asked curiously.
"Like those precious little capitol people." I replied confidently.
She gave me an odd look, which translated to me that she was greatly offended. I began to deepen my atrocious thoughts about her determined to get those squirrels back to my family. I didn't care if I had to offend her.
"You know," I began with a smirk. "Always needing to rely on other people, never can get things for themselves?" I grinned as her face turned to a bright boiling red. She was angry, I could tell. It was hard not to laugh at her stupidity right in that moment, speechless and at a loss for words. Though, I shouldn't have thought so quickly.
"Well at least I'm not a spitting image of a ruthless victor!" She spat at me. Everyone in our district knew that one of the biggest disgraces at the time was to be what we called a "Ruthless Victor". It's a victor of the Hunger Games who was basically a blood-thirsty career, very greedy and flirtatious. An idiot in my opinion. Slightly, I was offended, how in any way am I like a ruthless victor?
"You know," She had begun copying the wording from my insult. "Always selfish and greedy, can never share with anyone else? Someone just controlled by their puppeteer." She made my blood boil; I couldn't stand it for one second longer so without thought I began to raise my voice.
"Just give me that damn squirrels!" I yelled.
She flaunted her calmness in my face by her subtle answer. "No,"
I didn't really know what to do, what was I supposed to do? I could have pushed her out of the tree, and fought her for the squirrels, but that might help her to prove her point that I'm a ruthless victor.
"Give them to me now!" I yelled back.
"Or what?" She sharply spats back at me.
"Or I'll beat you to the bone the next time I see you back here in my forest!" I screamed back at her. I couldn't help to not be forceful. She hit a nerve that no one ever dared to touch.
"Just like I said, ruthless victor!" She belted in a singsong voice after she raised her obnoxious nose to the sky.
"Ruthless victor, ruthless victor, ruthless victor, ruthless victor," She chanted over and over again and then it had got stuck into my head. Her little annoying raspy voice was drilled into my thoughts. Ruthless victor, ruthless victor, ruthless victor, ruthless victor.
Without much more sanity left inside of me, I had broken.
"Fine! What if we share the squirrels? You get one I get the other two?" I offered, sick of her reckless determination.
She pondered the offer for a few minutes, weighing the costs and the advantages only to settle the deal with a 'fine'.
Trying to see past her atrociously devilish self, I could finally place her. She was at the ceremony where she and I both received medals after the mine explosion. That means that her dad had died alongside my dad. I had thought. I began to feel pity for the girl. Obviously she was trying to provide for her family as well, plus, she's younger making it a whole lot harder. Her face softened as I gave her a light smile as an act of condolences. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on her. I told myself. She was only trying to do the same that I was. She was trying to protect the ones she loved, even if it meant putting herself at risk.
"I'm Gale," I told her, trying to lighten things up. "What's your name?"
She wiped her brown stringy hair out from her face, looked down into her lap shyly and softly whispered her name. Oh, so now she was being shy? Now she didn't want to be all out there and forward? My thoughts rendered.
"What?" I asked her, cupping my right ear with my right hand. Muffled I heard her say her name again.
"Catnip?" I asked deliberately. Someone would actually name their child Catnip? Wow, poor child.
"No, no," She said embarrassed. "Katniss, Kat-niss, K-A-T-N-I-S-S!" She stated determined to assure I didn't say her name incorrectly again.
"Okay, whatever Catnip?" I said just to make her more furious. It was quite funny to see her be mad.
Her anger seemed slowly flushed while she sat up in that lush and dense tree and a small leering spider casually fall onto her arm. Unlike most girls who would just shove it away, she gently greeted it and analyzed it crawl up and down her arm, intrigued by its living.
"Gale," She notified me, still with her gaze intent on the spider. "How can you be so small, yet not be afraid of what's big?"
Her question was so simple, then I had interpreted that she was talking about the spider, friendly and not afraid of her. Yet, it wasn't until later that I realized she could be talking about something more, something that every citizen of Panem had felt. They felt small and terrified of the capitol and what it could do to their families, but how was I was supposed to answer that. I shrugged my shoulders, then placed my hands in my pockets waiting for her to say something next.
She hopped down from her tree, and began to walk beside me still clutching the squirrels tightly in her grasp. She walked beside me as I re-positioned my snares, we were caught in a hallow silence that neither of us seemed to want to break.
After a minute of pondering, I decide to bring up the simplest question I could think of in that moment.
"What grade are you in?" I asked her. I knew she went to my school, considering that it's the only school in district 12. I was also aware that she was younger than me, considering she looked like it and that she was never in the older grades hallway.
"7" she replied dully, seemingly uninterested in my topic choice.
"Oh, I'm in ninth." I replied back to her bare remark. I tried to gather words together to strike up new conversation, but I felt empty in that moment. Do I really want to know more about this girl? I already knew all I needed to know about her, she seemed to be like a mirror reflection of me. I had asked myself then. She had a deceased father, left with only a mother, having to fend for their family, a hunter, what else is there that I need to know?
"I'm sorry," she told me, her head low staring at the crumpled and dry leaves that scatter the forest floor. "You know, about your dad." Her grey eyes looked up into mine and gave me a small sympathetic smile.
"Oh, uh, yours too…" Awkwardly I replied slightly turning my gaze away from her.
From there, I remembered that we had talked mindlessly. It began with simple questions but elevated into our lives and much more. It was a hard start, but I learned that day that this girl was like no other. She was different. She was like me, and I knew by her honest and passionate ways that I could trust her. I knew that on that day I finally found someone who I could connect with. She was the only person who ever understood me.
"Well I should get going," she said to me as she re-fastened her brown leather hunting bag over her shoulder.
I remember standing there in amazement. She was everything that I was, brave, kind, stubborn, yet she had a different essence then I did, something that I marveled at the time. That's why when she told me goodbye, I gently brought my hand up close to my left ear and waved whole-heartedly at my new friend.
"Goodbye," I told her and smiled.
She waved back and softly made her way to the outskirts of the forest and over the fence. Finally I had gone to fix my snares one last time, when it bolted back into my memory.
"That bitch!" I whispered underneath my breath as I curled my hands into raw fists. I shook my head and snickered towards the sky. That girl had some nerve. That one second of weakness that I endured, so bewildered that I could find someone like me, she ran off with all of my squirrels.
"That's just great!" I told myself, as I settled onto a large rock. "Sure, let the girl run off with all of your food! Nice job Gale!"
I just snickered and rolled my eyes, thinking of how dumb she must have thought I was. That girl had some nerve to steal from me, she really was tenacious. She had something that a lot of the people in Panem lacked, something that would either get you far in life, or killed. I knew from that moment that she was something different, but I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. This girl had something; she had fire. This first encounter with her was something I've always remembered. It was because this was the beginning, this is where her fire began, this was the ignition.
A/N: Hello readers (If I have any) as a reference, I prefer to put authors notes here as an ending to the chapter, rather than beginning a chapter. This doesn't apply to everything I do, but mainly for this story. Also as a reference I wrote this as if Gale is straight up telling it as a story so the last chapter will most likely be in present tense because it takes place in present day, but this is past tense because they're events that happened before. Anyways, we all know that the highly-anticipated movie is coming out very soon, which is why I had the inspiration to write this story called 5 days of a Mockingjay. Yes, I know that not all people here on fanfiction have five days until the movie, some people have 4 depending on where you're from. Sorry for that inconvenience but I decided to post it by my time.
Movie Question: Is anybody else dressing up to the movies, or am I just a loser? Reviews are appreciated and express to me how pumped you are for the movies!