DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
INTO THE LIGHT
PART II
Katniss lets her eyes adjust to the light. At long last, she is finally outside and out of the darkness. Coin has allowed her and Gale to come outside to hunt, but tracking devices were put on their ankles. She thinks it is unnecessary, for she would never leave Prim in District 13 and Gale would never leave his family. But the tracking devices are not all bad just in case they do get lost and need to be found.
But she still does not like the idea of Coin knowing her every move. She was guaranteed by Heavensbee it was just a tracking locator and that no microphones were on them. If they were, she was not going to hunt.
They begin moving quickly, for they only had two hours. The landscape much different here than in District 12, she still felt a sense of familiarity as she and Gale moved stealthy in the deep forest. It had been almost nine months since they last hunted together. Their footsteps silent, she begins thinking to herself how Peeta was not a good hunter because his movements and footsteps were too loud, despite the numerous techniques Gale tried to teach him. She wonders what the Capitol is doing to Peeta right now.
Deep in thought worrying about Peeta, she hears a slight rustling in the leaves from Gale and looks up to see a deer approach. Taking out an arrow, she shoots and hits the deer right in the eye, shocked at how easy it was.
As they go over to the carcass, Gale says, "The animals here have never been hunted, it is almost not fair."
But she does not respond for Peeta is still on her mind. She tells Gale they need to move the deer and they find a secure spot to hide it until they are ready to leave.
Gale tells her they have about 25 minutes left, and they walk until they see a river. They sit down beside each other on a large rock, Gale putting his arm around her shoulder. She breaths in the fresh air, savoring the moment.
"Maybe next time they will give us fishing poles" Gale says.
She chuckles and says, "Yeah, Octavia, Venia, and Flavius would love to eat some fresh fish right now, I'm sure they miss good tasting food."
She hears him inhale sharply at the mention of her prep team as she rests her head on his shoulder. After a few moments he says, "Katniss, why do you care so much for your prep team?"
She pulls back from him and says, "What do you mean?"
"They have spent the last year prettying you up for slaughter" he says bitterly.
"I don't expect you to understand because you were not there, but they do care about me. They didn't at first, but they were devastated when I was reaped again, totally devastated.
"Are you defending them?"
"I will stand up for anyone who is mistreated. Did it ever occur to you, that what I saw happening to them reminded me of what happened to you? What the Capitol did to you over a turkey? I didn't tolerate it then, and I won't now. I don't think Coin rules District 13 that much differently than Snow rules Panem."
"I'm not looking for a fight" he says and gets up and offers his hand to help her up.
She ignores his gesture and moves off the rock, heading towards the direction of his snare line.
Not wanting her to be angry with him he comes up to her and says, "I will try to remember why your prep team matters."
She looks at him and nods briefly. When they arrive to his snare line, they see that some squirrels have been caught, along with two foxes. While gathering their supplies and game to be ready for the hovercraft to come get them, Katniss suddenly says to Gale, "You didn't say anything regarding my comment about Coin."
He does not answer as he finishes pulling the deer out from the hiding spot. Once the deer is moved, he turns to her and says, "I don't see how you can compare Coin to Snow. Sure, this place is rigid, but they have been surviving underground for seventy-five years, they must be doing something right."
Just when she is about to respond they hear the hovercraft approach, she tells him to come by her room at 5 pm, for her Mother and Prim will not arrive until 6 pm for 'Reflection' time and today was not a usual jam-packed scheduled day so they both had some free time. He nods and says he will see her then as they head towards the hovercraft.
She hears the knock on her door at 4:58 pm. She quickly opens it, and he enters her compartment. It is the first time he has been here. There is not much for him to see, for everyone's compartment looks the same.
He hopes that they have moved past their disagreement from earlier, for he doesn't want to waste the time they have to be together alone. Quickly figuring out she has other plans for the minute the door closes she says to him, "I can't believe you don't see what I see when it comes to Coin. Gale she is dangerous. We have to keep our guard up."
"Why? Because you don't like the way she runs District 13? I'm pretty sure the District has had other leaders before her Katniss. I know you are upset with the way they treated your prep team, but Heavensbee is right, they are better off here than with the Capitol."
"And you don't see a problem with the way she's treated me? How she has demanded that I perform for her as the mockingjay?"
"It is a fair trade, all the rules being bent for you, for us, I don't think it is unreasonable for her to ask you to cooperate."
She is furious, she cannot believe that Gale is not in agreement concerning Coin. She knows if Peeta were here, he would listen to her concerns instead of contradicting her.
"Get out" she says seething.
"Katniss-"
"Go!" she yells as she points to the door.
He goes to the door to leave, he turns around to ask her if he will see her at dinner, but he is met with a slammed door in his face instead.
She does not sit with him at dinner that night, sitting with her prep team instead. She knows that will send a message to him. The next morning, she ignores him again and sits with her Mother and Prim at breakfast in the back corner far away from his family.
Prim asks her why they are sitting so far away from the Hawthorne's, and she makes up an excuse saying she was not in the mood to be social today. She knows she is being selfish, but she needs him on her side, not Coin's.
Once she leaves the cafeteria, instead of reporting to the laundry room at 7:30 as her tattoo instructed, she heads to the supply closet instead, for she felt an extreme sense of anxiety suddenly come on.