~ NIGHTINGALE ~
By SincerelyAlice
CHAPTER 4: YOU WILL FALL [if you jump]
[A/N] Probably considered a "filler" chapter, but worthwhile all the same. :) It's just a little short.
Thanks again, my readers, for your lovely reviews! =3 All are muchly appreciated. And I'm glad you like the new title. I think I do too.
I wanted to get this out for all you. Who's seeing the Hunger Games movie tomorrow? :) I'm going at midnight, for the premiere, and I've got to say that I'm really excited! I hope the movie really does Suzanne Collin's book justice! And especially Gale! :) (he is my favorite character if you hadn't guessed.)
I also just listened to the Hunger Games soundtrack. It's really very good! I'm loving the Civil Wars :)
[another note:] I was rereading Book 1 when I saw that Peeta dipped his roll in his mug of hot chocolate on the tribute train. Went to my local Dunkin Donuts on St. Patrick's Day and decided to try that! Had to say I wasn't disappointed Peeta :) Tried it with a Cinnamon raisin bagel too 333 love love love recommended for you all!
"Seems Effie's got a crush on you," I say breathlessly, and then I turn my head round as we run to make sure she wasn't actually following after us. We'd run as fast as we could from the dining compartment as to make sure we weren't found. We'd almost reached the back of the tribute train already. A caboose, I think. It was just the two of us, and just the way I liked it.
Once we'd reached the last compartment, Gale put his hands on his knees to get back his breath. I was still panting. "Capitol women," he managed, and then with a scowl, "all the same."
I closed the door of the compartment after us, and once I did I slumped against the wall and to the floor. Gale prompty sat beside me. For a while we didn't say anything, just listened to each other's breathing as they slowed to a normal pace It wasn't awkward though, as you'd think. I'd been in the forests with him enough times, and we could go up to an hour without saying anything sometimes. But even then, through lack of talking, we still could work together to take down one animal. We could almost communicate telepathically really. You had to be quiet out there; noise scared away game. And no one was better at being quiet than Gale was. Don't get me wrong, he was loquacious when you were someone he wanted to talk to.
Finally Gale got back up again, back on his feet. He appeared antsy. I stared at him from the floor, unmoving, confused at this sudden motion. Without a word, (deciding to answer my question through more movement) he went to the other door, the one that led out of the compartment. Once he opened it wide, the roar of the rushing wind filled the compartment. He stepped out into the night, and by leaving the door open behind him I knew he wanted me to follow him.
The first thing that hit me was…well, the wind. It was so strong at such a velocity, it even yanked some of my hair loose from the braid I'd made. One thing Effie had mentioned that I had remembered was her saying that the speed this thing rides along at- a solid 250 mph. It was unfathomable, I never even rode in cars. They were a rare sight back in District 12. You walked places on foot.
The wind was like getting up in the morning, spraying cold water on your face in an effort to wake yourself up. And it was just as cold as water. We shivered in the frigidity, and then stood just a little bit closer together. We watched in wonder as the landscape whizzed by in such a way that I could hardly take it in before we passed it by. We'd never even left the vicinity of our district before. Travel from our district to others was strictly for coal transportation. Most have never even been on of those trains.
As we watched longer, our eyes adjusted to the fast transitions. We could actually differentiate the trees, the widespread fields of corn. It's not like we could tell one district from the next though. The wind on our face actually grew to feel refreshing. Gale spread his arms wide, as if he was taking it all in.
"What if we…what if we just jumped off?"
Oh, it was this talk again. I wanted to slap him upside the head and say that was stupid, that we'd have to be scraped off the tracks by the time we'd be found. That it would be absurd an assumption that we'd walk it off afterwards, walk it off and into an area we knew nothing of. And, just as importantly, that it was still early enough in the game for the Capitol to go and bring back new tributes. Maybe Peeta and Prim, the ones who'd really been chosen.
But then again, I didn't want to say that. I wanted to, for just these moments, think of flying, breaking free, and when we hit the ground, running away in the opposite direction. Exhilaration Like a mockingjay, flying against the wind which insisted on bringing her elsewhere.
If only we'd been born with wings!
Gale was smiling, and I couldn't even compare it to the sun coming out because that occurs too often. Yes, we were being taken away from home, home we'd known our entire lives. And yes we'd be arriving at the Capitol the next day. But right now, all was forgotten. We were in the wind. We were at neither place the wind brought us or brought us from.
We stayed out there a while, until eventually it just got too cold to keep our teeth from gnashing together and we even grew weary of standing, hanging on to the railings. We walked steadily back into the compartment of the train, and then we shut the door behind us. We resumed our old positions against the wall, except this time we were huddled closer for warmth.
There's nothing real romantic about this physical contact. Two winters ago District 12 hit temperatures at a record low. We also saw the worst snowstorm in three decades. Even worse (yes, it was possible), the blizzard had been an insta-blizzard, hitting our district without any warning. It was right in the middle of the day. Gale and I had been out hunting in the woods together and we'd been trapped out there all day and into the next morning. The two of us had hidden away in a snowy oak tree, clutching each other for body heat, trembling together and also in fair quantity worrying about whether our families on the other side of the fence were eating or not.
Not allowing the other to fall asleep for fear that person wouldn't wake up.
"I think I ate too much," I say, rubbing at my full belly. How long has it been since dinner? Were Effie and Haymitch looking for us, or did they decide to leave us to our own devices?
"I think I ate too fast," said Gale, and then he sighed and leaned his head on my shoulder. I sigh also and I'm able to close my eyes. Here it's coming.
"Gale," I say softly. He must know what was coming.
"Yeah, Catnip?"
"Why did you volunteer for Peeta? Better yet, go against the pact we made last year? One of us had to stay home."
Gale is real quiet when he responds. "We're a team, Katniss. When you were reaped, well… I suddenly couldn't imagine not being with you. Not hunting together. I want to be with you, in the woods, at your house, in these Games. Work together."
I don't know how to respond. Was that really all it was? He just wanted to fight alongside me, like a partnership? I can't say it was completely unheard of...but one of us would not get to come home!
But then again, something told me that this wasn't the real reason he'd volunteered. I wanted to ask further, but then again a part of me doesn't want to know the real answer. What if it was truly pure impulse, as I'd suspected, and by now he'd come to regret stepping forward for Peeta? What if…and this was much worse than anything…what if all that talk in the forest wasn't just talk, he really wanted to rebel against the Capitol somehow…?
No, that couldn't be it. I let myself relax. Just for now, I wouldn't think of that. I wouldn't think that only one of us could come home after these Games were over. But with the two of us in it, there was more of a chance of our district having a winner. A winner who would bring in foodstuffs for their family, honor to their district.
Right now I just thought of what I had. And to be honest, right now it was only him and the pin.
"I…I hope you don't die, Gale," I muttered, into his ear.
At this, he burst out laughing, and we'd been speaking to each other so quietly that the sudden noise caused me to jump. Gale's head swung off my shoulder.
"That's gotta be the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say, Catnip!" said Gale, still laughing. Thinking I'd gone soft. Hmph.
My face grows red, and I must look away. "Hey!" But then I can't think of anything else to say, and I cross my arms and I slouch against the wall further.
"I'm just kidding," said Gale, affectionately ruffling up my hair, which had already gone loose from the wind. "And you know what, I hope you don't die too."
"Well that's got to be the sweetest thing I've heard come from your mouth," I grunt back. I just untie my braid at this point, letting the dark waves tumble over my shoulders.
Gale lays his head on my shoulder again. He smells like the Capitol soap. Only slightly does that wood smoke scent linger on him. I will surely grow to miss it. I close my eyes again. I never even sleep in such proximity with my mother, some sort of underlying trust issue. I don't know.
But Gale, I feel I can trust him completely. Now, and in the arena. We could sleep alongside each other in there, and I know that I'd wake up in the morning.
I feel for his hand, and we shake on it. The handshake we never had back at the reaping. We accepted each other as adversaries on our own. We didn't have to play by the Capitol's rules though…
At some point I must have drifted off to sleep, Gale's head still on my shoulder.
We're still sitting like this when Haymitch finds us in the morning.
[A/N] Calm yourself, Galeniss fans! This wasn't intended to be entirely romantic.
Thank you for reading. :) Remember to review!
Wonder how Gale and Haymitch will get along? (Or not get along!) xD
"You decide
(Who will you run to)
Wrong or right
(There is no reason)
For you to hide
Only love can change your life
You decide."
-Alice