The Wild and the Kind

*Hunger Games


Katniss Everdeen had not been looking for Peeta, she had been looking for her boat. If she happened to watch the water more carefully than the shore, well, that was her business.

Her boat, small as it was, was more important than a mutated fish.

The fact that she spotted him the moment he neared was coincidental and due to the fact that he was hard to miss, not her desire to find him.

On the same line, her heart did not flutter with happiness or relief in seeing him, it was just the sort of feeling anyone would have if they saw something legendary for the second time. It was normal the way her voice rose when she called out his name. What else would she be expected to do? Ignore him?

Since he was swimming in her waters, she had reason to find out more about him. Besides, she did owe him a debt. It would be rude, even in her mind, not to thank him. No one accused her of being very tactful, but she did have standards.

He smiled, charming and sweet, with twinkling eyes, "Hello, Katniss."

She jerked her chin in something of a nod.

"I see you were looking for me as well." His voice was like honey, smooth and gooey, and warmed to trickle out just right.

"No," she denied instantly, "I wasn't. I was looking for my boat." Her arms folded quickly over her chest, press tightly to her in a protective form.

If possible, he looked even more amused, smile widening, "Oh, I see."

This was the second time she had seen a mermaid, Siren, sea monster, or whatever they were to be called but this time it had been intentional. However, it was no less mesmerizing than it had been when her mind was addled with terror and a need to escape.

Katniss shifted from foot to foot under his scrutiny, staring him down from her place above, "I come here all the time. I have just as much right to be here as you do."

And he laughed, and her heart skipped several beats. She moved forward, unable to stop herself from getting a little closer to the edge. That laugh was beautiful, like summer sun and waves lapping over her feet on the beach; it was childhood innocence, the first really big fish she ever caught, and it was the wind catching the sails of a ship to carry it somewhere far away and far better.

It was like she could not make her lips remain closed and the first thing on her mind tumbled out, "I wanted to see you again."

Peeta drift forward, gripping the rocks and cocking his head questioningly, "Why might that be?"

Katniss glared at him to counteract the awed look she must have been wearing before, her voice turning harsh, "I had a question."

"Allright. Ask it." He kept hold of the rocks, but leaned back like a cat eyeing a bird it is assured of catching. That annoyed her instantly because she was not some simple human he could have for a song.

Cocking one hip, fingers of one hand resting there to show irritation, Katniss blurted her question in a bland tone, "Why did you help me?"

He let free a sound, similar to a hum, but different. It did something to her, though she did not know what.

Peeta stared up at her from the pool of dark water, blue of his eyes hypnotic like nothing she had ever seen before in her life. With better lighting and a slightly different location, she could see the speckled patterns in his tail. She had seen whale sharks before, sailing in the deeper waters on her father's ship. It reminded her of that. It was a strong, muscled tail she guessed was an open display of power in his world.

His world... his kind... the ones she did not believe in until the day before. It was curiosity that brought her back in search of a glimpse of her Siren rescuer. Nothing but curiosity and searching for her lost boat.

She decided she would not go near the water for quite some time. There would not be any boating for a while, the shore would have to be good enough when she fished. It would mean finding a different location but she could do that.

"I helped you because I could not leave you to be killed." Peeta's soft, sweet voice sent a shiver up her spine.

Katniss hummed noncommittally and crossed her arms over her chest as if that would protect her if he tried to lure her closer to the edge. The water was up high in the cove and she had taken a stroll around it and farther to the coast, waiting to catch sight of him if she could. She did not expect to find him as she walked over the rocky face, but he surprised her, seeming to have been doing the same. He had been looking for her, he even admitted it.

"That is not exactly an answer." She informed him blithely.

"You would rather I tell you I saved you because you were the loveliest human I had ever seen, and the thought of Marvel ripping you into pieces was too much? Or that you sounded so frightened and desperate I just had to make it stop? Or perhaps I felt called to your side, drawn to you inexplicably and found you in danger that I was meant to save you from." Peeta was smiling alluringly, staring into her eyes to watch for her reactions.

"No." Katniss barked, clenching her hands into her shirt sleeves, "The first one was sufficient, I was just saying it was not very informative, but that's all you need say."

He had the never to chuckle and it was horrible how sweet it sounded, "Are you blushing?"

"No!" She snapped again, "don't be presumptuous."

"Oh, I would not dream of it, Katniss." His voice forming her name had her knees weakening for reasons she did not understand.

She gracefully eased herself to the ground and sat cross legged just in case. "Why did you come back here anyway?"

"I needed to see you." He told her, voice and face honest and open, "I wanted to be sure you were well after what had happened."

"How did you know I would come back? I might have decided never to return." She had leaned closer to the edge without noticing.

"I just knew." He answered cryptically before using toned arms to pull himself onto a long rocky spot along the shore a few yards below.

She was surprised by his size when he was fully stretched out before her eyes rather than beneath the waves. Laid out on his stomach like a cat, she could make out the dips and rises of his broad shoulders and tapering pack, not to mention the fleshy fins and tail. It surprised her that he would allow her to see him so exposed. His arms crossed and he rested his head, still watching her closely but sunning himself in the heat.

Her gray eyes studied his every curve, raking over his length and design to commit it to memory. If she had been born with a bit of artistic skill she would desperately want to draw him. Maybe she could convince Primrose to try; then again, trying to describe this would be impossible and it would make her baby sister question her sanity.

Her mother would say she was a dreamer, like her late father. She would say, "what good does dreaming do us" or something bitter like that. Being in love had not saved her parents from heartbreak.

"Why did you really come back?" Katniss could not say why she asked when she did not want to know. "Do you hunt here often?"

He drew in a long breath and she noticed what had to be gills flutter on the juncture between neck and shoulder. "I would not call it hunting, just fishing, like you. I don't go for...larger prey, shall we say?"

"Why not? I'm sure humans are easy for you, more so than fish. Humans are not as fast in the water."

His dark brows arched, eyes sparkling, "You want me to?" His voice was highly skeptical but it had not lost the humor at all.

Katniss shook her head, "No, it's just that it seems like you... that it would... isn't it what you do, lure humans in?"

Peeta flicked his powerful fins, sending water flying in several directions. "Some do, some don't. It depends... on what we are... and what pod we live in."

She leaned forward again, scooting closer to the edge, "What do you mean? What is the difference? Like... sharks versus killer whales?"

He shook his head almost fondly, "Something like that. We usually don't get too close to the shore. Even those that do 'hunt' stay well away from the land unless there is no choice. If we take a meal, we steal it off a ship in the open water."

Rather abruptly, in a graceful motion that looked impossible, Peeta launched himself from the rock, twirling in the air twice before cutting into the waves with hardly a splash. It took her a full minute before she noticed her jaw was hanging slack. Once she noticed she snapped it shut and stuck out her chin in defiance.

Peeta cut under the water and began to twine his way around the rocks to progress farther down the shore. Graceful could not even describe the way he moved, beautiful was not enough either. Under the waves he was the sea itself; dangerous but alluring all the same. Like the sea he pulled her with him, the moons pull on the waves.

She found herself on the shore line, stood at the low side of the cliff. When she came to the edge, he was waiting, coiled like a snake. When he jumped toward her she fell to the ground to avoid being caught, but he was not aiming for her.

He slung himself like a tree snake around a fallen oak and watched, bemused, as she scrambled to regain her feet and her pride. The way he draped himself seemed imposing to her, but it proved his skeletal structure was nothing close to human. No human spine could move like his but it was... exotic and interesting.

"You were right. I had a second motive for returning to this place." He blithely informed her.

Katniss glared from her place on the ground but refused to stand up and prove whatever it was he thought he accomplished, "What?"

His webbed fingers worked quickly at a knotted rope tied to the tree and once it was free, he extended it to her. It was green from algi, not tan like it should have been, probably from being in the water for weeks or months. She got to her feet and dusted off her jeans for emphasis of her lack of amusement, but she took the rope with distinct lack of being impressed.

"What is this?" She demanded.

Peeta motioned over the edge with his eyes.

Katniss made a face at him, "Oh, so you can push me off the side?"

"If I wanted to kill you, I could have drowned you yesterday."

He had a point, she would concede. Judging by the jumps she had seen, he could probably reach her as close as she was to the edge anyway. That in mind, she stepped closer and looked over the side.

She gasped, eyes widening when she spied it, swaying lazily in the clam water of the cove, "You..." Her voice faltered as her eyes turned to his face, "saved my boat..."

His expression was so gentle, smile warm like a cup of tea on a cold day, "It seemed to mean a lot to you. The nets could not be saved though, I'm afraid."

"I can make new nets, but not a boat." She took a long breath, a happy, genuine smile forming on her lips, "Thank you." It did not seem enough, but she had nothing else to offer, so she said it again, as sincerely as she felt it, "Thank you for doing this."

Peeta's smile turned impossibly brighter, and she found she no longer thought about the points of his teeth when he did.

With his help she was able to return the boat to its old hiding place, none the worse for wear. They managed to get it tucked away into the cave and do so quickly. It never paid to leave a boat out in the open for long just in case anyone spotted it. Not that being seen with a siren was bound to end much better, at least her sister would still have a boat if not a living sibling.

Once the main danger was over she found herself seated beside the water with a potential killer at her side, fully trusting him without knowing why.

A very large part of her wanted to be content with the way things turned out but she had never been so easy to pacify. It was a blessing but she needed to know more.

A siren had no reason to help a human, no reason not to kill them. Yet, here he was, helping her and never harming her despite his ample chances. She had to understand.

"So what makes you so different?" Her fingers twined together tightly with nerves, "Why aren't you trying to eat me like the other one? Why let me live and not take an easy meal?"

He tipped his face skyward to gaze at the clouds, "We're all predators, Katniss, even you; difference is in what we prey on. We are... similar in more than appearance to our aquatic cousins. Cato is closest in relation to the Bull Shark - like his counterpart, he will as easily kill and eat me as you, or anyone else. My pod is not like that but it is the ones like Cato and Marvel that give us all a reputation and provide... Lord Snow with all the reasons he needs to make us feared and give them reason to hunt us."

It had not been Lord Snow for a rather long time, but she did not bother to correct the honorific. What the king did not know would hurt nothing.

"Snow hunts you? How? How could he even catch you?"

Never before had she heard of the Capitol being involved in siren hunting. No one knew they really existed but she could believe that those people, once any of them caught the indication their was something new to destroy, would take it as a challenge. The districts never heard things like that anyway. They were not that important. Snow owned everything that belonged to them, including their lives, but he did not care to speak with them.

Peeta looked resigned to some extent, "He has ways. He knows the patterns we kept to and where we used to go. We change to adapt, but there are some things we cannot change. There are reasons we must come to land, and those cannot be alerted."

"Why do you have to come to land? Can't you stay away?" Katniss was alight with curiosity that would not be stopped, she had to know more.

Peeta pursed his lips a moment, contemplating very obviously how much he should say, "We must come to land when our offspring are near birth in case we are forced to bring them to shore. If the mother is too far out, and it is a fry that must be brought in, the young one will die. The pods follow the mothers to protect them while they await the arrival. Snow finds those nesting places and destroys any within."

She was silent a long while, letting the unpleasant revelation penetrate. If the family, or pod, followed one mother to be, it sounded very much to her like they all were destined to die if they were found. How many lives would that be normally?

"What would force you to bring the baby onto land that you could not better deal with in the water?" She finally asked.

His eyes were gentle but shrouded when he looked at her, "That is a particularly well guarded secret that goes back many generations."

Secrets, she supposed, were understandable and she could accept it, "How did he find out?"

Peeta's lips curled in a silent growl, "He... found one of our... land hatcheries, if you will. He caught a caretaker."

She held up a hand, not wanting to know what that would mean or how many... babies had died from that discovery. It was not something she wanted to hear. "Is that why you are here? Your family is here for a...birth?"

"No. I'm here for Finnick, because the white ships are on the move."

She did not care what or who Finnick was. What caught her attention was more pressing information of greater value than she could have hoped for. At the same time she would almost prefer not to had heard.

The blood in her body ran entirely cold. "They are near here? " her voice shook now and she did not care. "But they never come this early!"

There should have been more time. It was too early in the year! Snow never collected this soon. Why would he change? Just to throw them off? That was conceivable.

Peeta took her hand in his carefully and tried to offer solace, "They might not come here. They are after us more than you. Humans are not as likely to be in danger."

Katniss shook her head grimly, pursing her lips and dragging her knees to her chin, "No, it's us too. He hunts us as well. Every time he travels, makes his way through the districts, people are taken away as tributes to his greatness." She chewed at her lips, pulling her hand from his to grip at her old denim pants, "They are killed or enslaved, no one really knows exactly what happens, but they never come back. The few that do are never recognizable as the people they were when they left. They shut themselves away or return to the Capitol or..." With that she cut herself short, not wanting to finish.

After a moment of silence, she did continue, but on a different topic, "The districts used to have names. We used to be places, but after the war he took them away and gave us numbers instead... like we stopped being real or maybe just stopped mattering."

The way he looked at her, the understanding, it made her want to hide. Life was becoming too complicated too quickly. She was a simple girl trying to keep her family alive on the meager things she could illegally obtain. The past day and a half was more than she could handle.

"I have to go. I need to warn everyone." She scrambles to her feet without grace and stumbled in a daze.

"Be careful, Katniss." Peeta called after her, "stay safe."

She did not respond, or more, could not respond with the growing lump in her throat. The best she could muster was a backward wave of her hand. Instead of looking back the way she wanted to, she ran. Her duty was too her family, not some sea creature.

God, she hoped Snow never found that one! She hoped he was safe and happy for the rest of his days. Someone like that deserved a good, peaceful life.

But she could not get involved more than she was with the plight of a siren when there were too many on land.

She would forget about the kind siren one day. She would forget his smile and the spark of happiness she felt when she was near him.

The next day, the big white sails appeared and no one left their homes, each hoping not to be seen but knowing they would fail.

When the pounding sounded on their door it was almost expected. Or it seemed so by the way their mother reacted. She pushed Prim into a closet and leaned her slender body against it like she could protect her child with the force of her will. It was like she knew what they wanted before they forced the door open.

"We are here for Primrose Everdeen." One of the men in white armor announced gruffly, but with a chilling calm.

Prim shared the beauty of their mother; long blond hair and shinning blue eyes, with a face that would have fit perfectly into high society if not for the smudge of dirt on her cheek. Mrs. Everdeen was wild eyed and she looked so helpless.

Katniss moved before she knew what she was doing. "I am Primrose Everdeen."


Note : May not continue this farther. I'll decide later. If it bugs me I will.