A/N: 2nd part of my little mini series. Let me know what you think!
Chapter 1 Reaping Day Part 2 (Following the Tracks)
I find Katniss in the woods after about an hour of tracking her shoe prints, her bow set and aimed on a deer. As she's about to shoot the deer it runs behind a boulder. Must have known a predator was near by. She must be going insane. It's reaping day! No way she'll be able to sell that in the seam! Let alone get it through the fence with out any peacekeepers noticing. It's suicide! I watch as she picks up a rock and slings it against a boulder. The deer runs out and is now in the open. After looking around for it's predator it's relaxed and begins eating moss upon a fallen tree. Katniss has a sure shot now….if I let her kill it no way I'll be able to convince her to not take it into the district. Deer is good meat and if it means feeding her family, Katniss will stop at nothing no matter how high the risk.
"What are you gonna do with that when you kill it?" I yell
The deer runs off and before Katniss can release her bow it's already out of her aim.
"Damn you Gale!"
I've known Katniss so long her anger doesn't faze me anymore and neither does mine with her. We know each other too well to know it won't last. I walk up to her with a grin and take an arrow out of her sheath
"It's not funny." She remarks, nearly forgetting that peacekeepers line the district today.
"What are you going to do with a hundred pound deer Catnip?"
Now I'm really getting on her nerves, her face flushes red. Catnip is a way I jokingly talk down to her…more teasing than anything, it makes her feel belittled.
"I was going to sell it to some peacekeepers!"
"Of course you were." I say with a sarcastic tone. Katniss knows better than to sell game on reaping days. I don't know what has gotten into her today. It must have been the sight of the deer.
"Like you don't sell to peacekeeper?" Her tone now very serious
"No! Not today!" It's true, I probably sell to peacekeepers everyday, but this one. They're the one's making the money in this dump and they're willing to spend it on good meat. It's when more come in from the Capitol that it's dangerous to presume these activities. If it wasn't for them I'd probably be helping Katniss skin the deer right now.
"It's the first deer I've seen in a year! Now I have nothing…"
I can't help, but feel bad for the fact I made her loose her kill. I decide I can't have her leaving with nothing.
"Okay" I say it as if the idea had been in my mind the entire time. I pick up a rock and throw it in a bush. A swarm of pigeons fly out as if escaping a bombardment. Within seconds Katniss has simultaneously pulled an arrow out of her sheath, drawn it and hit the bird right in the heart. We laugh at their stupidity; these birds have fallen into our trap once again.
We look at each other smiling and for a moment we are alone in our own world where nothing else exists. No Capitol to kill us, no families to take care of…just us. I begin to walk closer to Katniss, as if pulled by a force I am not familiar with except in her presence. I walk, closer and closer I get until….SSSSWWWWWOOOSSSSSSHHH. The tree's rattle, the animals flee from their peaceful hideaways and once again Katniss and I are reminded of our harsh realities. It's a Capitol hover craft…coming for today's reaping, escorting "the beautiful and young Effie Trinket", who will be picking the lucky tributes that 'have the honor of representing our district in the 74th annual Hunger Games!' I grab Katniss by the shoulders "Come on! Let's get out of here! Come on!"
We hide under a bush until it passes. Katniss breathes deeply and shakes her head.
"What?" I ask
"It's just Prim, she's so worried about getting picked today…I don't know what to do."
"Don't worry about it Katniss, I had to talk Rory out of being scared of it too. Once I told him the odds of everyone else getting picked before him he was fine. If Prim hasn't been secretly putting her name in for tesserae's she'll be fine." I look to her with a smile and we laugh.
"Yeah…if only you could tell her that."
"and you think she'd listen to me after you already tried to convince her she won't get picked? Katniss are you aware of how much your sister listens to you?
"Yeah haha…you're right."
We sit for another second before realizing we both have gone silent.
Cheering someone up isn't as easy when you're worried about how your life will turn out in the next few hours….even if you can do it's usually short lived. I get lost in thought about my brothers and mother. How would they survive without me? Katniss can shoot, but she is no good with traps…at least not as good as me. She needs something set while she's out hunting to comeback too! She's not going to be able to shoot enough animals to feed-
"Gale?" I was cut off in mid thought
"Yeah Katniss?" My tone comes off a little harsh. I can't help it though; I'm just getting overheated about thinking about all the things that could go possibly wrong if I'm chosen today to be one of the capitol's toys….
"We should get going…at least to that meadow nearby."
Both of us are trying to hide our true emotions right now, but at the same time wanting to comfort each other. It is a dark space to be in and it's impossible for us to leave. We are the foundations for our families, if we break down they will die…without us they're helpless and we are to attached to them to ever let them go. They're all we have in this terrible place we live.
"Alright…"
We get up and begin to walk, to possibly the last moments we will ever have with each other…
A/N: Be sure to stay tuned for part 3! See how Gale reacts when Katniss and Peeta are picked in the reaping!Expected time to be finished is two weeks!
