*Mercy's P.O.V*
"Please?" Gale begged me, his grey eyes full of hope "Just try it. I wont stop you if you want to leave, but at least let yourself be healed."
I sighed quietly, turning my head towards the Heavens, or whatever was up there watching us wallow like pigs.
I wanted to accept his offer, I truly did. I was so weary from the constant running away; the never-ending silence. I could barely even sing for fear of being shot. But my insanity was too great for me to keep it in control for long when I was around other people sane or unstable; just their presence reminded me of the countless others I have seen killed, some by my own hands.
I looked to Gale once again, and immediately regretted it. The moment his eyes locked with my dark blue ones I broke.
"Fine." The word passed my lips before I could pull it back. Gale's eyes lit up with contained joy, and I couldn't help but smile slightly in return.
"But, I don't... want anyone to know... that I'm there." I flinched mentally when I heard that my voice had gone back to its natural, jerky state. I used to speak normally, fluently even, but the years of watching people speak like that after torture must have rubbed off on me, because now my speech is always broken with halts and hesitations, unless I am in one of my mood swings.
"Only the lady that will heal you, that's the only person that will know, I swear." He nodded and I noticed how his black hair looked dark brown in the light. I tipped my head once in acknowledgement and saw my own bone white, blood soaked hair glinting wetly as it swung in front of my eyes. Almost as though he was reading my mind, Gale spoke, stammering slightly.
"Uh, Mercy, not to be rude or anything, but- is your hair naturally that colour? White, I mean." I went back over to the boulder where my shirt was drying and pulled it on, shedding Gale's jacket before I answered.
"It is naturally white, yes. But... it never used to be." I could feel him prompting me silently, so I continued. "When I was little, my hair used to be... blacker than yours; just look at, Watena if you don't... believe me, she is a replica of me five years ago, when my hair first... started changing colour."
"Why did your hair change colour?" He asked gently. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying in vain to clear away the brutal images that had popped into my head as if on cue.
"Because... because that is when I met Lavinia... that is when I started to realise that what I saw everyday was so wrong, so sick. The shock of it, had me paralised for... a week. And... when I came out of my stupor, my hair... had turned white as a bone."
"That must have been quite a shock for you then." I heard a hint of triumphant loathing in Gale's voice when he said that, and my natural defences kicked in. Unfortunately for him, my natural defences tended to be poison words backed up by poisoned weapons.
I was on him in seconds, my nails digging into his blissfully soft flesh.
"You could say that I suppose. You could also say that despite my 'epiphany'" I put heavy emphasis on that last word "my natural evil streak is only just contained a lot of the time. So if I were you gorgeous, I would back up and tred carefully around me if you value your sanity as much as I do." Something I said must have amused him, because he was barely holding back a smug smirk.
"What's so funny?" I hissed, reluctantly letting his neck free.
"Did you just call me... gorgeous?" I hissed, feeling my face get hot. I touched my burning cheeks and looked away.
"What about it?" I saw his feet casually step towards mine a tiny bit and could imagine him waving his hand as he spoke.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just curious as to wether you find me... attractive at all." I had heard his tone many times before, in all sorts of voices, from all sorts of men.
I looked up at him defiantly, only to feel myself melt when I saw how close he was. "Are you... flirting with me?" I asked non-nonchalantly, careful to not display my sudden adrenaline rush.
"What about it?" He asked cheekily, imitating me from before. He stepped closer again, until his chest was centimetres from mine.
"That's an awfully dangerous game to be playing with me, Gale Hawthorn. You better be prepared to play dirty if you're going to try and seduce me." My voice faded away as he leaned down until our noses were touching.
"If that's the case, I think this is going to be fun."
He leant in a little bit more, then pulled back suddenly, stepping away. Not willing to show my disappointment, I smiled with him and waited until he turned to lead me back to his home. I watched patiently as he tucked his bow and quiver into a safe nook and re-sheathed his knife. I gathered my own meagre belongings and we headed off, excitement and dread pounding in my heart.