BLUE ANGEL

"My name is Neytiri."

As Peeta's vision cleared, what he saw before him took his breath away.

His vision was still cloudy and blurred. He could barely see the trees around him. But the image of the woman in front of his eyes was clear and sharp, every detail defined. Every colour was radiant and alive.

Before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was crouched in front of him and looking straight into his eyes. Peeta realised that she was not human. Her yellow eyes, her azure blue skin, her cat-like ears, her tail, the four fingers on each hand and her ultra-slim figure told Peeta that she was from another species. A figure of mystical beauty.

Even crouching down, Peeta could tell that she was very tall. She was a giant. He guessed that she could be almost double his height. Yet despite feeling so much smaller than her, he was not afraid. The warm look in her eyes and her gentle smile did not provoke fear in his heart. On the contrary, he felt secure and comforted by her presence.

Although she was not human, Peeta found her to be a creature of true beauty. Her face was finely formed and her narrow elven features seemed to be perfectly proportioned as if sculptured by a Goddess herself. Small white freckles dotted her face in an exquisite pattern around her mouth and nose, seemingly ready to sparkle at any moment. Her big yellow eyes gazed into his and he felt he might fall into them, never to return.

"You have to go, Peeta." She whispered . "Katniss needs you."

"You are not real." Stammered Peeta staring at her. "You are a hallucination. You must be."

Peeta could not believe she was real. Something that beautiful could surely not be real. She had to be a hallucination. A trick played on his mind by the tracker jacker venom.

"You are not real." He said firmly. "You can't be real."

"I am real." She said. She touched his arm tenderly with her hand, gently holding his pale wrist with her long fingers. "Or at least I was."

Startled by her touch, Peeta pulled his hand back from her, although he knew she wished him no harm. She reached out and touched him again, smiling.

"I don't understand." Stuttered Peeta in confusion, feeling her warm soothing touch against his skin. "What do you mean?"

"We don't have much time, Peeta…."

"Tell me who you are!" Cried Peeta. "I need to know."

"OK, Peeta." Sighed Neytiri. "I will tell you. But we must hurry"

She sat crossed legged in front of him and took his hands in hers. Peeta felt like a child whose mother was about to tell him a story."

"I am a construction of your genetic memory." She explained. "I am…I was a woman called Neytiri on another world where your people once visited. To survive on our world they mixed our DNA with theirs. You are one of the descendants of these people. And through them, I live in you."

"No, that can't be." Peeta could not believe that he was connected to the figure in front of him. So alien and yet so beautiful."

"It is true." Peeta. "I am part of you."

"But how?" Peeta stuttered.

"The tracker jacker venom has activated my DNA inside you." Neytiri continued. "That is why you can see me. I am real, because I did exist. And within you, I do exist now."

Peeta shook his head. He still struggled to believe this was real, although his heart told him that he should. After all, he was aware that the Capitol created genetically manipulated creatures all the time. Creatures just like the tracker jackers.

Neytiri put one of her large palms on Peeta's cheeks and brushed his hair back. He felt the warmth of her azure skin against his face.

"I will tell you more later." She smiled tenderly. "But now you must go and find Katniss. You must help her!"

"Katniss." Peeta whispered to himself. He smiled thinking about her. Her subtle smile. Her flowing brown hair. Her beautiful eyes.

Peeta's vision began to clear. He could now hear the ripple of the water on in the river nearby and the chirping of the birds in the trees.

"You have to go now!" said Neytiri urgently, gently but firmly grabbing his wrists. "Katniss also has our DNA. But I don't know how the tracker jacker venom will affect her. It affects each person in a different way. She could be in great danger."

Suddenly, Peeta's vision cleared in a surge of lucidity. He was fully awake. Fully aware. The tall blue woman had disappeared. Peeta did not wonder where she had gone. He had only one thought.

"Katniss!"

A shiver of fear and anxiety rippled through his body. He had almost forgotten her. Peeta jumped up and ran into the forest. All senses of pain, fear and disorientation were gone. He had only one goal. One objective. The only objective he had ever had in the Hunger games. To save Katniss.