A/N: Hey, people. So, I'm new to The Hunger Games fandom, though I do love the series :) Buuut inspiration strikes, as does a need for "healthy" competition and thus this was born. It takes place before the books, before all that depression and stuff, just a friendly oneshot containing some not-so-friendly events.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. I wouldn't have killed all those people if I did...

Summary: Don't insult Gale's skill. Because that leads to competition. And with two of the most hotheaded best friends in the District, who can the winner be? Only friendship.

Friendly Competition

By: Dodo.123

TWANG!

There was no way it would hit. The apple was way too far away, way too high. They couldn't even see it from their place on the ground. Gale would never have shot it through with an arrow, no matter how skilled the craftsmanship of the bow. There was absolutely no way-

"Got it!" The triumphant shout was loud enough to reach Katniss's ears, putting a scowl on her face. And it had probably scared off all the animals, but the two of them hadn't really been hunting all this time any way.

Just several minutes before, Katniss had confidently stated that she could outshoot Gale any day. The other boy took great offense to this, and promptly picked an apple out of their collection. He then placed it on a high tree branch some one hundred yards away, came back, nocked an arrow, and stood there, intensely concentrating, before releasing.

And apparently, he'd hit his target. Huh. Katniss could almost feel the competition bubbling inside her.

As Gale came back, she found herself saying confidently, "I bet I can beat you."

Gale plopped back down on their rock and scoffed. "I'd be better than you," he retorted, "in everything we do in these woods."

Katniss crossed her arms, still standing. "Is that a challenge?"

Her best friend, soon-to-be opponent, found a grin spreading across his face. "Yes it is."

Swinging her own bow from behind her back, Katniss took up her own ready stance with an arrow nocked. There was no apple this time, just that thin and barely visible branch. She could hear Gale's barely masked words behind his sudden coughing: "Miss."

Ignoring his jibe, Katniss aimed carefully, and by some stroke of determination or luck, her arrow could just be seen landing soundly in the branch, shaking it up and down. She grinned smugly and turned back to Gale, her face alight with pride. Gale had an eyebrow raised in that way of his (something Katniss really had never been able to do, much to her disappointment), and eagerness came off him as he sprang to his feel again.

"Alright," Gale consented. "Let's try something different."

"Choose your poison," Katniss teased.

Gale grinned wickedly. "Fishing."

Hunting completely forgotten – though they were sure to have some food left over from previous rewarding hauls – they both automatically raced each other to the river, the same that they had swam in so many times before, and set up traps for the fish to swim into. This time, however, they were going to do a bit of both, according to Gale's plan.

The dark-haired boy unlaced his boots and rolled up his pant legs as Katniss watched in curiosity, then stepped about knee-deep into the water, turning back to beckon his friend in.

"Come on, Catnip! It has to be by hand, obviously."

Shrugging, Katniss copied his move, so that now they stood some feet away from each other, bent over with their hands poised to snag any fish that swam too slowly by.

"Most fish in two minutes wins. Ready?" Katniss nodded as gale continued, "Set...go!"

Immediately both their eyes scanned the water, and only moment later a splash to her left told Katniss that Gale had snagged a fish and she saw him chuck it to the opposite bank, the beginning of a surely soon-to-be large pile if Katniss didn't hurry up. But already she knew this wasn't her strong point; they both may have been impatient at times, but Katniss had the bad habit of letting her frustration going to her head in these situations, while Gale could channel it or store it as he wished.

Infuriating little-

Katniss's no doubt rude thought stopped abruptly as she spotted a silver-scaled trout venturing much too close between her legs. With seemingly lightning speed, she thrust a hand into the water-

And the fish slithered almost effortless through her grasp, and Katniss came up holding nothing but fast-dripping water.

Hover above the surface before reaching in! she chided herself furiously. You know that!

Using her reminded advice and once again ignoring Gale's laughter, Katniss tried again, once more spotting a silver fish, though if it was the same she couldn't be sure. Either way, her hand hovered above the surface, but Katniss gave in to casting a brief glance upward to Gale's pile. There were at least five fish in it. Gritting her teeth with determination, Katniss made a grab at the little fish. This time, it came up in her grasp.

Allowing herself only a moment of triumph, Katniss tossed the trout to land and moved her gaze down again.

Just then, Gale called, "Time's up!" Then he looked at the two piles, one of seven and the other of a measly one, pretending to have trouble judging which was bigger. All the while, Katniss glared at him.

"I dunno, Catnip," Gale finally said, sounding perfectly lost. "I can't tell who won. Should we count?"

"Shut up," Katniss muttered at him. "Let's bring this back to our pile, then I'll kick your butt at whatever's next."

Gale snorted good-naturedly, but helped gather a few fish and thought about what he could win at – meaning, what they could compete in – next.

But by the time they reached the rock, it was Katniss who had the next idea.

"Herbs," she said simply as Gale straightened from stowing away their fish. Then Katniss grinned mischievously. "Hawthorn, to be exact (1)."

Gale stared at her for a second, then threw back his head with a laugh. He looked at her, eyes shining, and shook his head. "How witty," he said dryly, or rather tried to, he was still looking quite amused.

Hawthorn, or maybe thornapple, was the casual name for either the small white flower or sometimes little red berries for the latter term, that eased nervous tension. It wasn't really common among the area - though Katniss knew it would grow in this forest – and the fact that its name was also Gale's last name remained a coincidence that Katniss had taken advantage of. Plus, Gale could get tense sometimes.

"I know," Katniss said in all seriousness. "First one to find some and bring it back here wins."

"Okay," Gale agreed slowly. "But a competitor can do whatever they like to reach it, like set up traps and such."

Katniss frowned at that: They both knew Gale was by far the expert on setting tricky snares. But Katniss knew his tricks, and was filled with the overconfidence that she'd be able to dodge them. After all, it was only fair, seeing as Gale wouldn't be able to find the herb without tracking Katniss. This way both of their skills would be put at test in this one.

Coming to the conclusion (the one that Gale had already discovered a minute ago) that the proposition made sense, Katniss agreed, "Fine. Ready?" This time Gale nodded, mockingly getting into a running position, though they both knew he had no idea which way to go. Katniss mentally went through her memory of the herb's locations. "Set...go!"

Immediately, the raven haired girl turned to the east-ish, the slowly descending sun to her back. Hawthorn was usually found in shrubs, with stems or branches ladled with thorns. And they grew close together, so Katniss knew to avoid any clearings, rather following the thick shelter of trees that would eventually open to the river if she turned more south. With those thought, Katniss started off.

Gale, not quite as adept as Katniss, had no such knowledge, so took to following Katniss in her route. This, of course, didn't sit well with her. Scowling, she whirled around.

"Stop following me!"

"I'm not. I'm just going in the same direction. You know, to find the herb?"

Katniss narrowed her eyes at him, but knew there was no way she was going convince him to go a different way. Well, unless she led him that way...

Gale was as skilled a tracker as Katniss, but when she clambered up a tree and refused to come down, he really didn't have the patience to wait for her to come down. After several minutes of seemingly innocent searching in the place that the tree just happened to be, Gale's head shot up, and with one last glance at the suddenly curious Katniss in the trees, the boy disappeared through the thicket of foliage. Katniss had a growing sense of suspicion at this; obviously Gale had thought of something. But there really was no time to wait or see if it was a trick: the sun was getting increasingly lower and Katniss did want to win. So, she climbed down.

Continuing rapidly in what she knew was the correct direction, it was about fifteen minutes before she spotted what she was looking for. Well, actually her shirt caught on a thorn leading to the hawthorn, and with one hand pulling it free without ripping the fabric, the other gathered several berries and a few flowers of it. Free and grinning at her loot, Katniss turned and wasted no time in sprinting back to the finish line.

But as she bust through the trees, still several minutes away from the site, there were sudden and consecutive sounds of cracking and snapping, and not a moment later Katniss had fallen flat on her face with one foot hoisted above her, the result of triggering one of Gale's clever tripwires.

The man in question appeared seemingly out of the trees, grinning mischievously and bending down by the struggling Katniss, plucking the flowers and berries from her hands while she glared and flailed her free foot.

"Thank you for that," he said happily, before starting to walk away.

"Gale Hawthorne don't you dare!" Of course, Katniss knew he wouldn't just leave her like that, but her humiliation at being caught off-guard like this made her snap at him.

Seemingly hurt, Gale turned back. "But what's the magic word," he all but sang.

Seething, Katniss muttered, "Please."

A smile lighting his face again, Gale unsheathed a knife and moved to her foot.

"I'll let you go," he said conversationally, "but you still have to catch me to get your herbs back."

Before Katniss could retort, he sliced the string and took off. Silently cursing her friend with quite a colorful vocabulary, Katniss struggled to her feet, shaking off the remains of the tripwire. Finally, she was able to sprint away. And so began her chase to murder Gale.

Gale pounced onto the rock, breathing heavily from the run but his eyes shining with mirth and teasing. Katniss burst into the small clearing a few seconds later and jumped at him without missing a beat. Gale held the herbs far out of reach, and as she stretched out her hand he jabbed her stomach. Katniss gave an undignified yelp, retracting her hand abruptly.

"Not fair," she gasped, laughing and clutching her side at having run so fast and to prevent her friend from poking her again. "You cheater! Those are mine!"

"But you dropped them," Gale teased innocently, jabbing at her stomach again. Katniss swatted the hand away, trying and failing at a glare.

"I'm trying to be angry, darn you!"

Gale just laughed and finally pulled Katniss's arm to lead her. "One more that we have to do!" He dropped the herbs in his pouch and grabbed two apples before pulling her after him.

It was close to sunset, but Gale half-dragged Katniss anyway back to the river, unslinging his bow as they stopped. Then he placed on the ground, took several steps backwards, and with an apple in each hand he took a running jump and cleared the semi-wide body of water.

Katniss rolled her eyes at him. "Show-off," she muttered affectionately.

Gale jumped across once again, getting one leg only slightly wet. He came to stand a bit behind Katniss, readying himself to aim at one of the fruits.

It was just like how their contest had started. Gale made the impossible shot, but this time his arrow hit the stem of the apple to cause it to fall. If Katniss hit the apple dead on, she would be the winner. No pressure.

In the move she'd practiced with her father, and then for three years after, Katniss picked and nocked, feet automatically moving apart and her aim instinctively adjusting. Now she just had to be sure it was true. With a powerful draw of her taut bowstring, the familiar TWANG of the it sounded. Miliseconds later the apple fell off the branch, an arrow stuck firmly through its center.

"I won!" Katniss cried, jumping happily into the air in a rare show of emotion. Spending time with Gale in the forest had that effect.

"Not really," Gale cut her pride short. "That second round was technically me."

Katniss gaped. "Nuh-uh!" she protested. "I found the herbs!"

"But I brought them back first."

"After you pummeled me for them!"

Gale smiled and put his arm around the huffy Katniss as they steered her to start the walk back. "How about a tie?" he suggested.

Katniss nearly blushed. A little guilty at being so adamant about winning, she nodded with a mock-condescending smile. "If that makes you feel better."

Gale rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

They made a stop at where they had stored their haul for the day – a pathetic three rabbits and a dozen or so apples, then including their eight fish. But the lack of food was made up for by the identical grins that graced both friends' faces as they walked in silence. Their competition had been purely in fun in the end, and the fact that it came out in a sort of tie just strengthened their acceptance of skills and weaknesses. They walked on in companionable silence, reliving the fun time they had had this day.

"Well, I still think I won," Gale finally said as they reached the fence.

Katnisss stopped and turned to him. "Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because, Catnip," Gale grinned tauntingly, "I can still do this."

He raised a single eyebrow to his hairline, and Katniss gaped in surprise. Then Gale burst into laughter at the bewildered look on her face, causing her to promptly lunge at him with an indignant laugh.

Also still laughing, Gale fell to the ground, allowing Katniss to pin him for only a few seconds before retaliating. And so they both rolled in childish fun and laughter, in the small place between the edge of their forest and the fence that held back reality. In their one place of peace.

(1) Yes that is a real herb, yes that is its real function. I laughed so hard when I found out :D

Gosh, that turned out long. But 'twas really fun to write. Nearly seven pages... Hope it was worth it :)

Review?

-Dodo