A/N: Hi everyone! This has been floating around my head the last couple of days, and I can't seem to get it out. So, here it is! Each For those who have read "15 surprises for you", this is not the reason my last couple of updates have taken so long.
Azalea (A-zay-li-ya) POV:
I leave a note on the counter and hop into my hunting boots. Mom and Dad probably won't be up for an hour. A thick blanket of snow has covered the ground; My mom probably won't be hunting today.
I walk out the door and head to the lightly-faded green gate that had been installed on the metal fence surrounding the district. Hunting is no longer illegal, but with the constant threat of predators, most people tend to keep away from the forest. And besides, there's no real need, anyway. District twelve, though still one of the lesser districts, is more fortunate than it was more than 30 years ago, before the Mockingjay rebellion. I still hunt, though, at first because my Mom just loved it, but I learned to love it, too.
I hear the gate squeak closed and head up to the rock my mom used to go to when she was my age; she brought me here to explain why she couldn't bear to stay in this spot more than 15 years ago, but never gave me any specifics. It is a nice spot, though, well hidden, surrounded by berry bushes, and overlooking a field and patch of strawberries. She doesn't have the same connection to this place anymore, so to her, it is just a memory. She had chosen a new spot for herself, but I prefer this one. I look at the beautiful scenery and smile, knowing that this is my real home; these are my woods.
I begin to take the trapped animals from my snare line and reset the traps. I load my bow and start walking toward my usual grounds.
A Mockingjay flies above my head and I whistle a four-note tune that my mother taught me when I was younger. They stop their songs to listen, and I repeat, they sing it back. I find a few squirrel in the trees and I just am about to shoot when a loud rustle scares them off. I turn around and scale a tree; just in case a bear or wild dog decides to make an appearance.
After about two minutes of waiting in a tree, I hop from tree-to-tree towards the area where I thought the sound came from. And I do find a predator, a wild cat, stalking something on the ground. I look toward where it is looking, and find someone sprawled on the ground, his leg twisted at a painful angle; probably tried to get to the nests up in the tree. The cat decides that it's too hungry to wait, and nearly pounces, that is, before I shoot it. I shoot once again to make sure it's dead.
I jump from my tree to the ground. He tries to get up, "Stop, you'll only twist it more", I say as I help him up to a sitting position, "thanks, but I could have taken the cat", he says, I smirk, "I doubt it." He laughs, and soon I do too.
"I don't think it's safe here" I say, "Why? You already killed the cat" really? You think it's safe here because I killed one cat? "Well, obviously you're new here in twelve, or you wouldn't have gone for the nests, or assumed it was safe. The fence is there for a reason. There are all sorts of wild dogs and cats out here." "Oh, so you're the twelve expert" It was more a question than a statement; "Most likely" this gets a laugh, "How long have you been living here?" "Forever, my parents are both from here, I was born here. I've barely ever been to other districts…" "So you are a twelve expert." I shake my head, "no" I don't catch what he says next, something moved, "Wait," I take aim, and shoot at the other cat. "See?" he nods, "Let's go"
I take him to the small, concrete house by the pond. "I never got your name" he says, "Because I never told you" he smirks at that, "I'm Ignacio, but I go by Nic," "Azalea,"
I start a fire inside the small, stone hearth in the center of the house. I start to make a small snack from my tiny catch. Winter set in. Not a lot of rabbit or squirrels have crossed my path yet. Oh well…
I start heating up the bread that I took from home. Once they have heated up enough, I sit by the wall, next to Nic, "Want some? It's a little old, I made them yesterday, but they're still okay" I offer, "sure"
Ignacio (Ig-na-sio) POV
I enter the woods through a faded green gate by the meadow, as everyone calls it. I go slightly off the mental map I've made based on my Dad's stories. Almost immediately I see a lot of bird nests high up in the trees. I begin to climb up one of the sturdier trees. I am not that light but I manage to get up high enough to just reach that one nest. I reach for another branch as a four-note whistle echoes through the forest, suddenly, all birds stop to listen, and whoever or whatever whistled repeats it/his/her self. The mockingjays take up the sound and soon enough, the simple tune becomes a beautiful, unearthly harmony that rings through the trees. I almost forget what I'm doing.
I reach up to climb another branch but the one I'm currently balanced on cracks under my weight and falls from under me. Time seems to slow down as I fall to the snowy ground beneath. I hit the ground hard. I try getting up, but find that I can't. I hear a low growl from my left, and out of nowhere, a large cat pounces, only to be hit by an arrow. It falls to the ground and is hit by another, this time, it falls, dead.
A young girl, around fourteen, drops from the trees as I try getting up again, "Stop, you'll only twist it more." She says, her voice as sweet as honey. She helps me sit against a tree "Thanks, but I could have handled the cat." I immediately regret what I said, I learned the hard way that some girls can be a little oversensitive, but thankfully, she is not one of those girls, as she only smirks and replies, "I doubt it." At this, I laugh, and so does she. "I don't think it's safe here." She says, "Why? You already killed the cat." She looks at me like I'm crazy, "Well, obviously you're new here in twelve, or you wouldn't have gone for the nests, or assumed it was safe. The fence is there for a reason. There are all sorts of wild dogs and cats out here." My mind subconsciously continues the rest of the conversation for me since all I can think about is how beautiful her cerulean blue eyes are. Do I have a crush on this girl? I am steered back into the real world when she shoots another cat. "Let's go"
I lean on her and she leads me to a small, concrete house near a pond. I have been so wrapped up in thinking about how pretty she was that I forgot to ask her name, "I never got your name" I say, "Because I never told you" she replies, "I'm Ignacio, but I go by Nic," I say, "Azalea,"
She starts a fire in the stone hearth in the center of the room and begins warming a couple of cheese bread loaves. Her dark hair is tucked in a long braid that sways when she moves, I think back to all the districts I've been to. I've never seen anyone with dark hair and blue eyes in any other district, mine are what my dad calls, a "seam look" he said that it is how most of the people living in the "seam" neighborhood of district twelve looked like. My younger sister, though, took after our mother, who was the District's old mayor's daughter; blonde with blue eyes. She looked as if you mixed a merchant and a person from the seam, "My parents were both from here" I remember her saying, they must've been from the two separate parts of town. Just like the two victors of the 74th hunger games why am I comparing her possible parentage to pre-Mockingjay-war-Panem?
I am still thinking about how insane I must be when she sits beside me and offers me a cheese bread, I take it, "sure"
A/N: Just to let all of you know, not all chapters will have the same scene in both POVs.