DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
Chapter 145-Tree
February 10 (Saturday)
Gale was waiting to begin his virtual call with Vick shortly. It was a little after 1 pm, he had cooked lunch for Jack and Juniper earlier and they were in the kitchen cleaning up. He was in his office, at his computer. After Juniper took off to the Capitol by herself four weeks ago, Gale had reached out to his brother to see if a speed camera could be taken to the Sioux territory to help find Katniss's temporary burial site. Over the years, Panem's military has increased the technology of cameras and videos. While the military still used portable, flying cameras, they were much smaller now and much faster. They could also travel faster and cover more range, the camera itself was much better, with better feed and sharper images, from a much further distance.
While the government knew the location of the Sioux, they no longer knew the location of the other native tribes, as that was the agreement all those years ago, however, a year ago with the arrival of the speed camera the military is now using, they were able to find the other tribes again with a simple fly over. Speed cameras detected movement, and it was easy to detect movement from a native tribe. They had easily found the closest tribe to the Sioux village, the Comanche, along with the other three tribes-the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Arikara. They had seen that the tribes had either remained in their exact same location or moved to a location not far from the old one. What they also found, was that there were three other tribes so far north they theorize the five tribes did not know of their existence. Paylor had ordered research into Panem's library archives and it was discovered that when the five tribes that now live in the wild territory lived on the land that is now Panem, there were other tribal groups that lived in the northern lands that is now the wild territory. Historians theorized that when Panem started to form, the tribes living on the land started to move north, and the tribes in the wild territory were pushed even further north, eventually settling in to the three groups that now remain. These three tribes were discovered this past November, when Gale had heard the news, he had thought how Katniss would have wanted to tell the Sioux right away. He had become sad, because he knew the Sioux and other tribes would never know about the existence of these other tribes. He knew his goodbye to the tribe in September was a final one. He knew as the months passed, the language would continue to fade, until it was gone from his memory completely. Not that he knew that many words to begin with, he only knew enough to get by in basic conversation, for he mostly did hand gestures and body language while out hunting with the men. Katniss was the translator for him and the kids whenever they visited. Knowing she had spent months with them and immersing herself in their language, she never let the language fade from her memory. For he had known she had repeated Sioux words and phrases in her head ever day, always knowing when she was doing it, for he sometimes would see her lips move ever so slightly or see the look in her eye when she was concentrating. He knew she also did this, to block out painful memories and trauma from the past. But now that she was gone, so was Panem's contact with them.
When she had found out about the speed cameras finding the other four villages, she had only said one thing to Gale about it, "I hope history does not repeat itself".
While the speed cameras were only to be used for surveillance if needed, Vick, still living in District 2's main downtown area near their Mother's townhouse, had security clearance and training to operate a speed camera. He informed Gale he could remote pilot one from District 9, though he warned Gale it could take days to find Katniss. It was easy to find large groups of individuals with the cameras due to movement, it was much harder to find nonmoving objects. Gale however, had given Vick a general idea what area to start looking in, and on the third attempt he had called Gale informing him he had found Katniss's burial tree site.
"I have to warn you though, there's two other bodies in the trees. I am not sure which one is hers" Vick says nervously.
Remembering very clearly the image of Katniss being placed in the tree and what he carved into it, Gale says, "I'll know which ones is hers."
Vick nods and then transmits the camera's feed to Gale's computer. At first the image is blurry but then after a few seconds it sharpens and becomes extremely clear, so clear Gale feels he is back in wild territory. Just as he remembered, he sees two large trees side by side. He sees Katniss's shrouded body in one tree and sees two other shrouded bodies in the other tree, the one body placed higher up than the other. He squints and sees his carving in Katniss's tree, knowing that unless you know where it is, one would not find it.
"She's in the tree by herself" Gale says to Vick, trying to hold his emotion in check.
It takes him a few seconds to realize that his younger brother cannot respond because he is crying, the emotional moment of seeing Katniss's shroud in the live feed. He then begins to show emotion himself, letting the tears fall softly from his face. While the image showed a bright and sunny landscape, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and in the trees. And it was clear from the image that snow was on the shrouds, but that the sun had melted some of it. He wonders if the tribe buried the other two tribe members in the other tree, because they had seen his tree carving where she was placed.
"There's something so peaceful seeing a resting place like this, but so…unfamiliar…it is something none of us could ever have the privilege of having" Vick says sadly.
Gale could not put into words how he was feeling, he could only nod in response. They sat there in silence for a few more moments before Gale decides it is time to bring Juniper and Jack in. Vick says he will leave his room to give them some privacy and will return in 90 minutes for he needs to return the camera back to District 9 by 5 pm.
When Juniper sees her Father come out of his office, she sees that he has been crying. She is surprised when he says that he has something to show her and Jack, she follows behind her Father reluctantly into his office. Once they are inside, he closes the door and stands in front of them and says, "Uncle Vick has found Mom's burial site in the wild territory, I have the feed from the camera on my computer. Do you want to see it?"
They both nod their head yes and Gale escorts them over to his desk. He has Juniper sit in his chair and pulls up a chair for Jack while he stands. They both stare in shock at the image before them as Gale gently says, "She's right there" as he points to Katniss's shroud.
Gale waits as he lets them process what they are seeing. Knowing they were expecting to see Katniss buried in a more traditional way, he is not surprised when Jack angrily says, "So Mom is just going to-be in a tree? Bodies are to be buried in the ground Dad-or burned."
"Not everyone has to be buried in the ground. A lot of native tribes bury their dead this way."
"Mom liked being in the trees" Juniper says softly.
Jack scoffs and says, "Don't confuse the images of Mom being in the trees during the Hunger Games as wanting to be there-she was forced to hide in the trees because the career pack was after her."
"That is not true Jack, your Mom was an incredibly good tree climber before the Hunger Games. All part of being a good hunter. She was in the trees while I was on the ground. That's part of the reason she ended up a Victor after all, her ability to stay hidden in the trees and as you've seen in the footage, it was how she was able to escape from the career pack".
"That and the tracker jacker nest Mom dumped on them" Juniper says proudly.
"Thanks to Rue's help" Gale reminds her.
"So Mom really did like being in the trees?" Jack asks, feeling defeated in his argument.
Gale hesitates before he says, "I think she enjoyed being in the trees at times, I think after the Games she wasn't able to look at them exactly the same way again."
"I just-I hate seeing her alone like that" Jack says bitterly.
"She's not alone-she's exactly where she wanted to be."
"Mom knew that she would be buried in a tree?" Juniper asks.
"I think she did yes. She spent a lot of time with the tribe before you were all born."
"Did you know she'd be buried in a tree?"
"No-I honestly thought she'd be at the tribe's burial ground; I had no idea they placed their dead in trees first."
"What are those things?" Juniper points to the objects placed by the tree.
"The Sioux believe the spirit needs food and personal belongings with them as they make their next journey" Gale says.
"To heaven?" Juniper asks.
Gale smiles and says, "Sort of."
For the rest of the time they had left, Gale lets Jack and Juniper each have some time alone in his office before Vick comes back. The three of them spend the last few moments sitting in silence looking at the screen.
Once the camera moves away and image goes black, Vick tells Gale he will call him tomorrow.
As they walk out of Gale's office, Jack turns to Gale and says, "Dad-Sienna and Avery didn't get to see Mom." Gale hears the agony in his son's voice as he realizes that his two older sisters missed such an intimate moment the three of them shared.
"I know, I am going to talk to Uncle Vick to see when he thinks he can use a speed camera again, I think as long as I can arrange a day that works for Sienna and Avery before June they can see Mom. I want to make sure I plan it early so-"
"The tribe does not bury Mom in the burial ground before we can all see her again" Jack says.
Gale nods, not wanting to acknowledge that once Katniss is buried at the burial grounds, they will not be able to decipher which spot she was placed at.
His plan to get the five of them together to see Katniss's shroud before June goes according to plan, but what did not go according to plan, was what happened after. In October, he had asked Vick to have a camera go by the area to see if Katniss's body had been moved and to his surprise it had not. He figured perhaps the tribe was not ready to move it yet. He then checked the next month, then the next. Each time the speed camera fed the live steam images back Katniss's shroud was still in the tree. The two shrouds in the tree beside her had been removed, and by January, another body had appeared in a new spot in the tree beside her.
He did not know what reasons the tribe had for not moving Katniss's body to the burial grounds. Was it because she was not truly a member of Sioux? Was it because of his carving in the tree?
Deep down in his heart he knew the answer-the tribe had seen the camera. The tribe knew that it was not Panem watching, that it was him, that he and his family were watching, and grieving.
And they decided to let Katniss stay in the tree so that they could continue to have those moments they cherished as a family, now a family of five instead of six. It was because of the tribe that Katniss came back to Gale, and it was because of the tribe that Gale and his family could still be with her now, even in death.
A/N: There will be a time jump next chapter. Also, some of you might have figured out reading this story, that some of the small details I write is based on real fact-Native American burial trees is one of them.
