I don't own the Hunger Games series or any of its characters, but if I did I think that they would have more fun.
Good Hunting
Maybe Katniss was deliberately trying to drive me insane. She didn't know how close to that edge I had already been.
Of course, she wasn't. She was fighting her own battle and I was just an incidental casualty.
After she ran into the house, we all sat there for a moment trying to absorb what had just happened. I sat back down on the grass and held my head. I had thought we were getting along so well. Then she sucker punched me.
Annie broke the silence: "Katniss has some kind of a weird thing with dandelions." Something in my brain flickered at that, but I couldn't pull it out of my swirling thoughts.
"Let's take in the dinner things and then I will go talk to her," Annie volunteered. "Mom, can you keep an eye on Finnie?" I was grateful for Annie. I had no idea how to deal with Katniss.
After we cleared up, Annie went upstairs and I decided to go for a swim. The water was cool, cleansing, and, best of all, predictable. Not like Katniss. It might come from the fact that she constantly lied to herself. She was honest about most things, but whenever something bothered her she pushed it away and wouldn't deal with it. Then it would burst out when it was least expected.
She also was incredibly bad at reading other people. Maybe they were connected. She wouldn't figure herself out so she couldn't understand others either. Like me. Only Katniss could have made herself believe that I could be asleep while she covered me with sunblock. That had to be the most amazing, tormenting and strange experience I'd ever had.
Of course, it felt good, unbelievably good. At first I had been so deeply asleep that I barely registered when she said something to me. Then I felt her soft hands on my skin. It took me a moment to know that it wasn't a dream. It was much too real, too physical. By the time I was awake enough to think there was no way I could have stopped her without scaring her. And, to be honest, I had no interest in stopping her. But I kept wondering if she really thought I was asleep. Couldn't she hear my heart hammering? It must have been shaking the whole beach. It was dishonest to pretend like that, but when I thought about what she would do if she realized I was awake I decided it was better to fake it. When I couldn't take it anymore, I accidentally made some sort of a sound. I felt her freeze. I could picture her sitting there, wide-eyed, a frightened rabbit. I hated knowing that she was afraid of me.
After she left I covered my head with my hands. I was shaking all over, including my brain. Then exhaustion took me. At least I had an amazing dream.
I reached the sand bar and took a break. The real problem was time. If I lived down the road and could come by and visit every day then I could wait patiently for her to put herself back together and be ready for something new. And I could make sure that no one else would step into that opening. But I was leaving in just a few days. I had thought time was on my side once before and I wouldn't make that mistake again.
Hunting together again had been fantastic. As soon as we were in the forest I could see her go into hunter mode: her arms tensed, her eyes and ears alert, but her face relaxed. In the woods the silence between us was natural, comfortable. I rigged up some snares and thought that I knew a lot about how to catch and kill a rabbit, but not much about how to comfort one when she is scared, let alone how to convince her to want to be with me for the rest of her life. Just then Katniss had held up her kill, two bunnies. The contrasting images threw me: sometimes she is as jittery as threatened prey; sometimes she is a ruthless killer. No wonder I couldn't figure her out.
I headed back to shore. I hadn't brought a towel, so I sat on the rock while I dried off. I watched as the sky darkened and the moon rose, its reflection bouncing off the bay's gentle waves.
I needed to be patient, to think about how hard this must be for Katniss. She might be doing just what Annie had said - feeling guilty because she had some fun. On the other hand, she might be sliding back into hating me again.
I went back to the house. Annie and her mother were washing and drying the dishes. I tried to help put away a few things, but there wasn't much left to clean up.
"Katniss fell asleep," said Annie.
"Is she okay?" I asked, not even sure what I meant by that.
"She will be. She's just confused. Not sure what she's feeling, or what she should be feeling. Us widows are kind of psycho like that for a while." I was glad she was smiling when she said that.
"I'm going back over to the boys' house," I told them.
Back at the other house I knocked lightly on the door, then heard voices in the kitchen. When I walked in Davy called out "Here's just who you need for some woman advice, the famous lover: Gale Hawthorne."
"Sorry, that Hawthorne is a media invention. I'm completely clueless."
Davy laughed. There were a bunch of beer bottles on the table and he seemed a bit tipsy.
But Jonah asked "Really? So they just made up all that stuff about you and all those women?"
"Yeah, I don't know what you've read since I quit reading tabloids. But while my alter ego has been womanizing, I've been buried 5 stories down cleaning up the Nut with not a female in sight."
"And what about Katniss? Are you really her cousin?" Jonah kept it up.
"No. They made that up while she was in her first Games." Just thinking about that made me tired.
"Want to join us for a beer?" asked Davy.
"Sorry, it's been a long day. I'm turning in."
"Hey, we're going to go to the market on Wednesday. Get us something good for trading when you're in the woods tomorrow," said Jonah.
"Sure," I said heading for the stairs.
"If she's not your cousin, you can get something really good in the woods," said Davy with a leer.
My fists clenched. I forced myself to take a deep breath and just said "Good night." I hated jerks who talked like that, especially about Katniss. But I had enough problems without stirring something up with Annie's brothers.
I went for another run in the morning. This time the sun was already coming up. The shore was gorgeous in the soft early light. I went back to the boys' house and cleaned up. Once again they were already gone clamming when I got back. After I was dressed I headed over to Annie's, hoping they would be up already.
Katniss was coming toward me on the road, wearing a hooded cloak. Who else would be bundled up like that on an August morning?
As she approached I admired her walk. It was not affected, with a lot of hip swinging like some girls. Even under her cloak I could see her smooth grace, that was somehow very feminine without trying to be. She wasn't as bone thin as she had sometimes been, but she was still slender. I had noticed yesterday that her waist was so small that I could almost circle it with my hands. Better not to think of that.
"Hey, Catnip," I greeted her. It had been a long time since I had called her that.
She let out a gentle laugh, hearing her nickname. "'Morning, Gale. Already done your run?"
"Yeah, the shore is amazing."
"Sorry about last night," she said, turning to walk back to Annie's with me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you weren't up to the pressures of a crown."
"No, I was just . . . confused."
That really cleared things up. "Did Annie let you have it again?"
"No, she was nice. It helps to have someone who's been through all of this, too."
I guessed she meant being a widow. She couldn't mean having some oaf put flowers on her head. I took a deep breath. I needed to forget about last night.
"So what's the plan for today?"
"I don't know. Maybe chores, swimming and hunting?"
"Sounds good." We could finish off Annie's list today. The back stairs needed some work. Finnie's closet door was broken and Susan wanted a fence around her garden.
After breakfast we got to work on the back stairs. Annie was hanging laundry on the line, with Finnie crawling around by her, babbling happily. Her mom was nearby, in the garden as usual. I figured a bit of chaperoning might make Katniss more comfortable.
"So now it's your turn," she said. "Tell me about your last year."
Wow. I should've seen that coming. I wasn't sure I was ready. I didn't want to get into my time in the Capitol and all of that, especially with Annie and her mom around, so I just started with my work on the Grave Digging Unit. Even that seemed to shock Katniss. Then I told her all about my squad, Captain Brighton, the Commission, the Nut. I didn't bring up Johanna.
The back porch just needed one new board cut and painted for one of the steps, and a few new nails. Then we went inside to work on Finnie's door.
Finnie's folding closet doors had come out of their rails. I poked around the closet to find the missing parts which Annie had said were in there somewhere.
Katniss sat cross-legged on the floor and asked "Now do you want to fill me in on how you got out of the Capitol?"
She had caught me. "Oh, you noticed I skipped that part?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. So I told her about it. It helped that I didn't have to look at her; I could keep my eyes focused on fixing the closet. I didn't sugarcoat it much, although there were parts I still didn't remember. I left out the noose. I didn't want her to have to worry about me, and I had decided I could never do that anyway.
I finished the story and the doors at about the same time. I turned around and Katniss was right there. For once I didn't hear her coming. She put her arms around me and buried her head in my chest.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that," she murmured. She had caught me off guard. I didn't know what to say, so I just held on to her. This morning I'd decided I would back off, but if she was going to hug me, what could I do? I stroked her braid and wondered why I needed this so much. "Why didn't you tell me? When you came to the Capitol I asked why you hadn't come to see me and you didn't say anything."
"It wouldn't have mattered. I had killed Prim. I knew Peeta was better for you than I was. I didn't deserve you anymore." I couldn't believe how much I ached just thinking back to that day.
She looked up at me. "I can't believe I hated you."
I just held her. We couldn't change what had happened. I wondered if we were too damaged to ever get it right. I tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear and lost myself in her eyes. They still were dark gray that slipped into silver near the center. Her upper lip still had a soft little dent in the center. I remembered Annie's advice and held myself back from kissing her.
Or maybe I just chickened out.
We went outside and found Mrs. Cresta under her wide brimmed straw hat in the garden. She looked up from her weeding and greeted us with a smile.
"So, Mrs. Cresta, what kind of fence were you thinking about?" I asked.
"I think the boys already bought some chicken wire. They just haven't had time to put it around the garden yet," she answered.
I thought I had seen the chicken wire in the shed so Katniss and I took a walk back over to the boys' house. I shoved my hands into my pockets to avoid temptation.
As we walked I asked her "Are you done quizzing me about my life?"
She glanced sideways. "Sure, I guess I can just let the tabloids fill in the gaps."
I groaned. "Not you, too. I thought if anyone would know not to believe all of that trash it'd be you."
"So, none of it was true?" she asked.
"I actually don't know what all they said. After I was attacked by some redhead who was probably paid to get a picture with me, I banned tabloids from the barracks. Have there been a lot of stories?"
"I don't know. I mostly tried to avoid them. But the picture of you and Johanna didn't look like you were being attacked." Did Katniss sound jealous? What a hypocrite.
"I did go out with Johanna, but nothing much happened. What was the picture like?"
"Just the two of you walking arm in arm. But, come on, I know Johanna. And I know that she's had her eye on you for a while. Don't tell me nothing happened." Katniss actually sounded kind of mad. I was trying very hard not to enjoy this. But I filled her in on all the details: the kiss, the "Let's just be friends," the working through my whole squad, the comment about Rory.
When I was done, Katniss let out a whistle. "Wow, I guess making her mad was a mistake."
"No kidding," I said. Katniss looked smug. Maybe I should have let her think I did have something with Johanna.
The fence was easy to put up. It was short enough to step over, so it didn't need a gate, although we set it up so it could be opened to get a wheelbarrow through. We made sure to leave the tools where Finnie couldn't reach them, then grabbed a quick lunch of leftovers with Annie and Susan.
"Do you mind if we go hunting before we take a swim?" asked Katniss as we finished up. "I have this long list of herbs I am supposed to find for Mrs. Spicer at the apothecary and I want to make sure that we have time."
"We can go now. Let me just get a drink of water first."
As we walked to the woods Katniss asked "Do you still have the good luck rock that Posy gave you?"
"It's in my room. I sleep with it in my hand whenever I have to stay overnight down in the Nut." Funny how I wouldn't tell anyone else things like that, except Posy of course. But with Katniss it came out before I even thought about it.
It was another warm day, but the temperature dropped several degrees as soon as we stepped into the forest. Katniss had given me her bow and quiver since she had to look for a bunch of herbs. I made her take my knife. It would help with the plants; and I didn't want her in the woods without a weapon. Her bow was a little smaller than mine and it had been a long time since I'd shot an arrow. I made her promise not to laugh if I missed my first few shots.
But after practicing a bit I did okay. These woods were different from District 12's woods, just as District 2 had its own feel. Here the trees were thicker, the ground was rockier and the air smelled of ocean salt. There were animals everywhere. I figured squirrels were not the best thing for trading so I focused on rabbits. With two from my snares and two more I shot, I had four before long. Then I got a good-sized turkey and went over to see how Katniss was doing.
She had already found some chamomile, St. John's wort, and calendula. Now she was looking for alyssum.
"What's it look like?"
"It's got gold flowers. They should be blooming now and easy to spot." We moved deeper into the forest, looking sharp for gold.
Then I saw eyes looking back at me. "Katniss, don't move," I breathed. I silently handed her the bow and quiver and she knew to give me my knife. She followed my gaze and saw a large wild boar glaring back at us. I let the game I was carrying slip down to the ground and gestured to her that I'd move away. I'd be the diversion so she could get some good shots in. She gave an almost imperceptible nod.
I moved sideways away from Katniss. I'd never seen a boar before, although Doc had talked about hunting them in District 10. This one was very big and dark, almost black. It had two sharp tusks which were curved and freakishly long, at least 6 inches. Maybe it was some kind of mutt. Great. Boars were supposed to be aggressive, especially where they were not used to being hunted. It was going to charge. I wished I had something more than a knife with me. Since it was my only weapon I couldn't throw it. I needed to keep it for some hand to hoof combat. I kept my eyes down, so it wouldn't feel challenged, glancing up every few steps to make sure it was still marking me.
Then it charged. I wasn't as far from Katniss as I wanted to be, but it didn't matter. It put its head down and came fast, hurtling right at me. How could an animal that thick move so quickly? Katniss's first shot bounced harmlessly off of the thick hide on its back. I needed to slow it down and keep from being gored. If I could get onto its back I had a chance. How much harder could this be than wrestling Rory, sparring with Shine?
Just before it reached me Katniss hit it with an arrow that stuck. The beast clenched and I used that moment to vault onto its back, clinging with one hand to its hairy hide. Then it started to convulse, trying to shake me off. Its erratic moves were going to make it hard for Katniss to get another good shot without me in front of her arrows. I tried to stay on the far side of the beast, leaving the other side open to her. But I wanted to do something useful with my knife when I had a chance.
I felt the boar grunt as another arrow caught it broadside. Quickly, I reached over and swiped my knife into the thick hide on its throat. I drew blood, but I wasn't sure how much damage I'd done. I gave it another jab and it returned with a wild thrash. I tried to hang on to its hide, but my hand was wet with sweat, and it began to slip. My other hand still clutched my knife. I tried to dig my knees into the beast, but just then it came to an abrupt halt and wrenched violently.
This time I couldn't hold on.
I opened my eyes. The forest was quiet. Then I heard a voice, calling my name. Katniss. She sounded panicked. I tried to answer and found that I couldn't make a sound. The air had been knocked out of me. I took a few gasping breaths and heard her crying out again. "Katniss," I said in reply, but my voice was so faint I was sure she couldn't hear me. I forced myself to slow down and take three deep breaths, to fill my aching lungs. As I did, I pushed off of the oak tree behind me and stood up.
"Gale! Gale! There you are! So much blood! Are you hurt?" Katniss was in my arms.
"Katniss," I had finally recovered my voice. "It's okay. I'm okay. Are you hurt?"
She pushed me back and looked at me in fury. "You scared me to death! Why didn't you answer me? Where did you go? You're covered in blood."
I put my hands on her arms, both to calm her and to keep her from pummeling me. "I'm sorry. I got the wind knocked out of me. I tried to answer, but I couldn't. Did you kill it?"
"Yes," she said as she laid her head back on my chest. "I saw you thrown off. I couldn't find you and I thought . . . ." She was shaking. My frightened rabbit again. I needed to comfort her.
I lifted her chin with my hand and pressed my lips to hers. I wanted to show her that I was alive. It was meant to be a gentle kiss, but she gripped the back of my head and pulled me into her with a strength I didn't expect. The huntress was back. I lifted her closer and melted into her. I could taste her fear, her hunger, and . . . blackberries. She must have found some that she hadn't shared. Well, not until now.
We slipped out of time and into an electric bliss. I left her lips and kissed her cheek, her scar, her eyes, then back to her lips. I slipped my hands around her waist, such a perfect fit. Somewhere a noise in the forest nudged the back of my brain, but I pushed it away. She made a sound in the back of her throat. I slid my hands behind her and picked her all the way up, leaning back against the tree as she pressed into me. Another noise from the forest and I knew I had to come up for air.
"We're not safe here," I rasped. "Mr. Ugly might have a mate."
She frowned at me as I set her down. "What? Who?"
"The boar. They travel in herds. We need to get our friend and get out of here."
"Oh," Katniss shook her head to clear it. "I forgot about him." Her eyes dropped as though she had just remembered everything that had happened and was suddenly embarrassed.
I took her hand and said "Come on. That's gotta be the biggest thing we've ever taken down."
"No kidding," she said, her eyes alight. This was a subject she was much more comfortable with.
"How many arrows did you hit it with?"
"Three that stuck. It kept coming after two, although I think it was already dying. You nearly cut its head off."
"Good thing you didn't kill this one when you were in here by yourself. You'd never have been able to carry it out alone," I said, gaping at the size of the boar.
"Are you serious? If I'd been alone it would have been carrying me out of here. No way I could have brought that down by myself."
I hugged Katniss to me and kissed the top of her head. I didn't want to think about what could have happened if she had run into this boar by herself.
She pulled away. "Come on. We have to get this out of here."
My knife was not too far from where the boar had thrown me and I picked up one of Katniss's arrows back up the trail. I found my string of rabbits and turkey and threw them over my back. Katniss had pulled her arrows out of the beast, wiped them quickly on the grass and stuck them in her quiver.
"Do you have all of your herbs?" I asked her. She nodded. "What about the blackberries?"
"How did you . . . ?" She blushed. "Oh, yeah, I've got them, too. I was gonna share, but you were busy."
"Don't worry," I said, grabbing the boar by his front legs. "You shared." I grinned at her as she rolled her eyes and took the boar's rear legs.
"We should get Annie to invite all her friends. We can have a feast," said Katniss.
"Maybe we can dig a pit and slow roast this beast. I wonder if Annie knows any good recipes for boar." The thing was heavy and cumbersome. It was hard to walk backwards while lifting its huge head over every obstacle. It had to be more than 200 pounds. We stopped chatting and focused on moving the beast.
"Let's take a breather," Katniss suggested after a bit.
"Sure," I said, and set it down.
"You gave me the heavy end."
"No way, I wouldn't do that." She looked at me skeptically, hands on her hips. I shook my head. "Okay, then, trade. Come see if this side is lighter."
"Fine," she said. She came around and grabbed its front legs. I picked up the back ones.
"Oh, my gosh," she said with a grunt as she lifted it up about 2 inches off of the ground. "Um . . . let's trade back."
"No way," I said. "You wanted the head. You've got it." She tried to lift it again and I had mercy on her. I came around and took the forelegs from her.
"Alright, I'll take this side back," I said. "But no more accusing me of not being chivalrous."
We slowly managed to move the boar out of the forest, then down to the beach. We set it down and both stepped to the water to wash up. I cleaned my knife, then my face, hands and arms, while Katniss washed off her arrows.
She shot me a scowl.
"What's wrong? Are you mad?" I asked.
"It's just that you jumped on that thing's back and you wanted me to shoot it. It was going everywhere and I was so afraid that I might hit you."
"That's why I let it throw me off. So you could get a clean shot," I said. Then I noticed that she was shaking again. I went over to her, took her hands and pulled her to standing.
"Your problem is that I trusted you more than you trusted yourself," I said.
"The problem is that you're insane," she retorted.
I thought about telling her that if I was insane it was her fault, but when I looked into her eyes I changed my mind, and decided to kiss her instead.
Thanks again for the wonderful beta work – IrishLuck19. Check out her Batman fanfic – "Unmasked" – if you thought you had friend troubles!
Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews – always nice when someone new joins the party:
Hope Never Dies, RipredtheGnawer, JessicaClairee, Fionasaurus, MountainAir, Cattastrophies, Iluvdinos, bookADDICT6, EchoDeltaNine, Heart the Squid, GraceVictoria, Daydreaming Viking Girl, Obsessed-fic-fan2, Team Gale, HungerGamesGirl27, Katieg343, Analyn Lana Ruse, Spanish Angel, Solaryllis, Literarylesbian37, LawAndOrderSVUAlways (Thanks so much for the kind review. Btw – if you find a grammar mistake – anybody – let me know what it is! I hate the idea of uncorrected grammar flubs out there!)