Bows and Snares

By: Legkicker

Chapter 3: Shadow at my Back

Winds whisper through the trees and rustle the leaves. The nearby stream babbles against the rocks and shines in the moonlight. The sounds of the night are growing, with crickets chirping and owls hooting. For a moment, it reminds me of home. But the feeling in my stomach reminds me that Gale and I are actually pitted in an arena of death.

My ears are straining to hear as the smallest of twigs crack and the presence becomes more noticeable. Gale is still in a crouched position, the snare no longer in his hands but instead replaced with the spear. He slowly stands, looking straight ahead into the darkness.

As soon as he does though, the feeling is gone and the presence is lost. Gale senses it to, and his shoulders relax down but the spear remains in his grasp. He turns back to me and shrugs.

"Whatever that was spooked off," he says, walking past me towards the river. I follow after him, periodically checking over my shoulder. What did we spook off?

Once we reach the river, we both stop to drink some of the water. It's cool and refreshing, and definitely placed here to bring the tributes together. I'm surprised when Gale turns left, away from the waterfall.

"Wait, where are you going?" I stop him. He looks back at me, matching my confusion.

"Finding a place to stay the night," he explains, his voice barely a whisper. I glance back to the waterfall, wondering how he could have forgotten all the work we put into it. I see no reason not to stay there, considering it offers protection and concealment on all angles. Although it would be hard to hear the approaching tributes, they only have one entrance…

Gale laughs, "You thought we'd stay in there? We'll check it in the morning…"

He continues walking down the riverbank in the opposite direction. Maybe Gale wasn't just trying to protect me. Since we got away from the cornucopia, he's been all about ending the games. The shelter set up behind the waterfall is nothing but a ploy, to capture the lone, scared tribute who wanders in. Surely it was an obvious spot, and there was a good chance we'd come across somebody in there tomorrow.

Gale didn't tell me though, which is odd. Did he really expect me to figure that out? Perhaps he was testing me, to see what I was thinking like out here. If it was, then I failed. Otherwise, this was just Gale's way of having some fun.

As I walk I'm fuming at myself for not realizing this earlier. If Gale and I aren't thinking on the same level, things can go sour. We aren't out on a hunting trip in the outlying woods of District 12. We're hunting other hunters in an artificial arena.

Gale finally ducks away from the stream, following a small runoff tributary into the woods. We take that route out into a small clearing, where a pond the size of the cornucopia lies untouched. The water shines white in the moon, and gives a slight glow to the surrounding area. Gale looks around cautiously before stepping out into the opening, taking a few minutes to walk a few steps. I just work on following his lead, trying to match his mindset.

The place seems vacant to me, considering none of the shin-high grass is trampled down and there's no puddles on the rock layer around the pond. This place seems to be untouched, and my answer comes when Gale takes a seat by the edge of the pond.

It's not the best place to set up camp, but considering there aren't many other places around it'll have to do. The grass camouflages us as long as we keep low to the ground, and the pond is another escape route, if need be.

"This should work," Gale approves, "it's a little open, but I suppose that's better since I like having the option to run or fight. Let's sleep in shifts, you sleep first…" he realizes he's ordering me around again, "Or-I can."

Although I'm not very tired, I can see Gale is more awake at the moment. Besides, I doubt either of us will get any decent sleep in this place anyway. I lay back onto the hard ground, the grass offering little comfort. Gale scoots over and rests my head on his legs, which is far better.

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to try and sleep here without him. If he wasn't with me, I'd take to the trees and find a way to secure myself in. But Gale is a bit too big to be climbing around in the branches, so this is for the best.

He seems to be calming down now, which is good. At first, I expected him to be over-protective the entire time. The cornucopia and time following was understandable I suppose, because that was a pretty big mess. Out here though, smothering me can get us killed even faster…

My eyes refuse to stay shut and I find myself staring up at the sky. The stars look similar to the ones back home, all twinkling to each other. It makes me wonder what is happening back there. All of District 12 is still watching, considering both the tributes are still alive. It's late in the day though, so they may have let the others go home for the night.

Prim must be with our mother, surely sleeping in her bed for the night. I guess my mother would rather miss as much of the games as possible, hoping Prim doesn't have to witness my death. I guess that's for the better, because I wouldn't want her watching either.

What if I hadn't volunteered? I've asked myself this question over and over again, always coming up with different scenarios. Most likely, I'd be dead inside anyway. Prim is too small and too gentle to stand a chance in this place.

Gale…he would be home with his family where he should be. I feel guilty for taking him away from them. To me, that's another reason why Gale should win. I volunteered for this, Gale just tagged along. How could I go home and face those consequences?

Peeta would be instead, hopefully making an alliance with Prim. He seemed like a nice enough kid, considering I've only had one run-in with him. He saved me once, and he doesn't need to do it again. I can't repay him, but luckily enough Gale volunteering because of me is almost like saving his life. I shouldn't be so modest…

Eventually, the soothing sounds of the forest and Gale's hand brushing my hair lull me to sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Gale wakes me up and goes to rest. It's pretty boring, but the constant thought of death brings me back to alertness every time I start to fade. I didn't sleep too well; I continued having nightmares of the reaping.

Luckily though, the sun begins to peak up above the mountain ridge in the distance. It's a beautiful sight, the way it glows pink around the rim of the horizon and colors the cloudless sky purple. For a moment, I'm in awe, until a cannon fires and Gale leaps up.

"What happen?" he asks, darting his eyes around the pond.

I can't help but wonder who it was that just died. We won't know until tonight, but I'm more worried that they had the bow. I only saw one at the cornucopia, so if they die with it in their grasp then I can kiss it goodbye.

"Just a cannon, nobody around here," I answer him. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and splashes some of the cold pond water on his face. It may not be safe to drink, but the water back at the river seems sufficient. We just need to find a way to carry it.

Gale stands, stretching is muscles, "We need some supplies…"

The outlying forest holds many valuable foods and medicines, but I believe he's talking mainly about weapons and gear. The girl with the orange backpack must have a cache of good stuff, so she'll be our next target.

"I'll go collect some breakfast," I say, taking his hand to help me to my feet. I also stretch out the soreness that has amounted overnight.

"I'll work on making you a bow," he grins. That's another good reason why he is here. Time and time again I have tried to make another hunting bow, but I always mess something up. Gale has made one or two before, never really hunting quality, but useful enough in the hands of a good archer.

"Don't wonder off too far, I've got to find a good branch to use," he looks across the opening and points," Those bushes over there, I'd just search around the perimeter."

I follow his gaze to a patch of red berries, "Where are you going?"

He points to a tree with hanging vines, a bit too high off the ground. "I want to see if I can get some of those vines to use for the string."

So off we go, in separate directions. I must admit, I don't like the feeling it brings, but I can tell Gale is just trying to give me some breathing room. We've been together for so long these past couple of weeks that even a small space between us like this feels strange.

I'm disappointed to see the red berries turn out to be redleaf, which can make you sick to the point of immobility. I look around behind it though, and notice a few bushes containing patchfruit further into the woods. They're safe to eat in small quantities.

Turning back, I can see Gale is struggling to reach the vines. I decide to risk the few feet of seclusion, but stop myself when the feeling of a watching presence befalls me once again. I almost panic, but soon realize it must just be the awkward feeling of not being with Gale. That, and Gale is constantly looking back over his shoulder at me.

If you want to win, you have to take some risks. I step out past the redleaf bush and straight over to the other berries. I smile to myself and begin to pick them, trying to slow my heartbeat. It almost stops completely when a pinecone drops right in front of me.

I jump back, looking up into a tree where a figure is perched on a thick branch. Their attire is all black and torn, splattered with black mud and concealing their figure. Their hood is up, and a black cloth is wrapped around their face. I can see nothing beneath the cloak aside from the white glint of their black eyes.

For a moment, I don't believe what I'm seeing, until the figure rocks on his heels and crosses his arms. Then I realize that I am weaponless and defenseless…I have to get to Gale.

I let the berries fall from my hands, and I'm about to bolt when the figure shifts his position again and tilts his head curiously, "Do not fear, Katniss…"

I'm frozen in their gaze, and their words trap me. They speak with a deep voice, and their words come slowly.

"Patchfruit…" he nods to the bush, "Such delicious little berries…much prefer the yellowberry though."

He drops down from the tree branch and lands right in front of me, taking his time to get into a standing position. When I try to back away, I stumble over and land on my back. I can't take my eyes off the newcomer as he steps forward, removing a backpack from his shoulders. At first I don't realize it, but soon enough I can tell that he has smeared mud across it, covering the orange parts.

"I took the liberty of retrieving your kill…from the snare?" he removes a rabbit impaled on the end of our spear trap. "I hope you don't mind, but I also enjoyed a taste."

I flinch as he tosses the rabbit at my feet. I stare down at it, noticing a missing leg.

He looks up at the field, "Your friend has just retrieved the vine, surely to make your bow, no?"

My voice cracks and I can't get the words out, so I backpedal instead. I want so desperately to run, but my legs and body refuse to commit. Who is this guy? I met everybody in the training center, and nobody was as mysterious as this person.

He offers me his hand, willing to help me to my feet, but I just stare at it like it's the wrong end of a gun. He looks back up towards the field, dropping his hand and backing away.

"Good luck…the other bow hides in the field of daisy…I'll be watching," he says, turning to leave. "Oh, and one more thing," he unzips his pack again, digging around inside, "If you need to transport water, look no further."

He tosses me a silver bottle, nozzle dripping with water. I take it from the ground with a shaky hand, feeling the cold steel. I jump again as Gale appears from the bushes behind me with his spear in hand.

"What happened?" he asks in bewilderment. I look back to the stranger, only to find he has disappeared.

I search around rapidly for any sign of him, shocked he could exit with such stealth. I give up, disappointed in myself. I froze up…and I'm lucky to be alive.

Gale helps me back onto my feet and brushes me off. My hands are dripping with berry juice and mud.

"Where did you get the rabbit and water bottle?" he asks confused.

I take both of them and inspect them in my hands, "I-I don't know." Suddenly I want to get as far away from the forest as possible, so I grab Gale and pull him back to the pond.

I explain what occurred, and Gale is frustrated. We only separated for a second, and I put my life at risk.

The problem is, I didn't feel at risk…

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4 coming soon!

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- Legkicker