I lay in the sleeping bag with Katniss for hours, just staring at the cave door and running my fingers through Katniss's hair. Hunger eventually takes over, my stomach grumbles and my mouth waters at the thought of the goat cheese and apples. I carefully remove my arm from under Katniss's head, trying to move as little as possible so as not to wake her. I look through the food basket until I find what I want – a bread roll, cheese, and an apple. Hopefully Katniss won't mind I ate without her. I would wake her up, but she looks so peaceful and warm… she can eat when she wakes up.
I spread the cheese on the roll, cut the apple in small slices and place them on top of the roll. The exquisite flavor fills my mouth, and I all but moan at the sensation. How long has it been since we last ate the portion of lamb stew? I guess I lost track of time. I mean, how can I not when the person I love the most in this cruel world was in my arms? Too aware of her steady warm breath blowing lightly against my neck through her slightly parted lips, her hand laying limply on my chest, the warmth emanating from her body…yeah, I got distracted.
I eat the roll slowly, enjoying each bite. I decide is time to wake Katniss up. She opens her eyes slowly, and then fixes them on the half bread roll on my hand.
"Don't be mad," I tell her. "I had to eat again. Here's your half."
"Oh, good," she says and then takes a huge bite. "Mm."
"We make goat cheese and apple tart at the bakery," I say.
"Bet that's expensive," she says.
"To expensive for my family to eat. Unless it's gone very stale. Of course, practically everything we eat is stale," I say glumly. I pull the sleeping bag up and around me, and let unconsciousness take me under.
A slight shake on my shoulder wakes me up. I open my eyes slowly and find Katniss's lovely face inches away from mine. I cup her face in my hands and pull her down for a kiss. She doesn't resist and her soft, warm lips move with mine. I could kiss her all day, but unfortunately I need to breathe, and so does Katniss. She pulls back slowly, almost unwillingly, I think, to catch her breath.
"We're wasting hunting time," she says.
"I wouldn't it call it wasting," I grin. I stretch my arms and sit up. "So do we hunt on empty stomachs to give us an edge?"
"Not us," she says. "We stuff ourselves to give us staying power."
I like that idea. "Count me in," I say.
She divides all the food in half. "All this?" I ask.
"We'll earn it back today," Katniss says with a confident voice, and digs in. after a minute she g
Ives up on the fork and uses her hands. "I can feel Effie Trinket shuddering at my manners," Katniss chuckles.
"Hey, Effie, watch this," I call out. I toss my fork over my shoulder and lick my plate clean, making loud, satisfying sounds. When I'm done I blow out a kiss in a general direction to her. "We miss you, Effie!"
Katniss covers my mouth before I can say anything else, laughing. "Stop!" she says still laughing. "Cato could be right outside our cave."
I grab her hand away from my mouth. "What do I care? I've got you to protect me now," I say and pull her to me for a kiss.
"Come on," Katniss complains and tries to pull away from my grasp. I pull her to me again and give her another kiss. She laughs, and kisses me back.
Once we're packed up and outside our cave, our moods shift to serious. Though the day is sunny and warm, we both sense we're really back in the games. Katniss hands me a knife and I slip it into my belt.
"He'll be hunting us by now," I say. "Cato isn't one to wait for his prey to wander by."
"If he's wounded –"
"It won't matter," I interrupt her. "If he can move, he's coming."
With all the rain, the stream has overrun its banks by several feet on either side. We stop there to replenish our water. Katniss checks the snares he left there days ago, but she comes up empty. Not a big surprise with this weather I guess.
"If we want food, we better head back up to my old hunting grounds," Katniss says.
"Your call," I say. "Just tell me what you need me to do."
"Keep an eye out," she says. "Stay on the rocks as much as possible, no sense in leaving him tracks to follow. And listen for both of us."
Oh, yeah. Katniss's ear. I forgot about that.
We walk in silence for a long time, but then I notice Katniss staring at me.
"What?" I ask a little self conscious.
"You've got to move more quietly," she says. "Forget about Cato, you're chasing off every rabbit in a ten-mile radius."
"Really?" I didn't notice I was making noise. "Sorry, I didn't know."
We start walking again. I try to make as little noise as I can…but apparently it's not enough.
"Can you take your boots off?" Katniss suggests.
"Here?" Walking barefooted in the woods doesn't sound very safe…
"Yes," she says, and she sounds impatient. "I will, too. That way we'll both be quieter."
Yeah right, I think sourly to myself, like she is making any noise to start with.
We both stripp off our boots and socks, and though I make my best effort to not make much noise, Katniss keeps looking at me from the corner of her eye in disapproval. Well, crap, I really suck at this. Way to impress a girl.
It takes hours to reach her old camp, and she doesn't shoot anything. And it is all my fault. Mine and my noisy feet's.
"Katniss," I say. "We need to split up. I know I'm chasing away the game."
"Only because your leg's hurt," she says trying to make me feel better but not succeeding.
"I know," I say playing along. "So why don't you go on? Show me some plants to gather and that way we'll both be useful."
"Not if Cato comes and kills you."
I laugh at the thought, though it's not one bit funny, but I have to get Katniss to trust me. "Look, I can handle Cato," I say. If I ever had a chance against him, it's gone now. "I fought him before, didn't I?"
"What if you climbed up a tree and acted as a lookout while I haunted?" she offers making it sound like a very important job. But I'm not stupid.
"What if you show me what's edible here and go get us some meat?" I say in the same tone she used. "Just don't go far, in case you need help."
She sighs in defeat and shows me some roots to dig. She then teaches me a bird whistle – a simple two-note whistle. Fortunately, I'm good at this at least. She gives me her pack, and heads off.
I start looking for the plants she showed me and for the few I already knew, whistling now and then in response to Katniss's whistle to reassure her I'm alright. I don't have much luck so I decide to venture a little further, following the stream. I find a bush of the berries Katniss brought once. I gather as many as I can, using my shirt as a bag. Once my shirt is full I decide to head back to leave them by the pack. There was still plenty more berries by the stream so I go back to gather some more. Just as I'm on my way to the old camp I hear Katniss calling my name. I think about answering her, but I don't want to risk it when Cato's out there.
And then, just as I walk through a bush, I see Katniss pointing her arrow at me, and then I hear the whistle of the arrow as it tears through the air. I jump back, dropping the berries, and stare at the arrow which is now stuck in a oak trunk right next to me.
"What are you doing?!" she demands angrily before I can say anything. "You're supposed to be here, not running in the woods!"
"I found some berries down by the stream," I say confused by her outburst – I mean, the girl almost killed me for crying out loud. Why is she mad at me?
"I whistled," she says still angry. "Why didn't you whistle back?" she screams at me.
"I didn't hear," I defend myself. "The water's too loud, I guess." I cross over to her and put my hands on her trembling shoulders.
"I thought Cato killed you!" she says almost shouting.
"No, I'm fine." I wrap my arms around her, but she doesn't respond. "Katniss?"
She pushes herself away. "If two people agree on a signal, they stay in range. Because if one of them doesn't answer, they're in trouble, all right?" she spits the word at me.
"All right!" I say as she finally brakes through my patience. After all I am alright. Nothing happened. Besides her almost shooting an arrow through my head, that is.
"All right," she scowls at me, but then her scowl melts away and pain takes its place. "Because that's what happened with Rue, I watched her die!" she turns away from me, goes to the pack and opens a bottle of water. "And you ate without me!" she suddenly says, obviously still not willing to just let it go.
"What? No I didn't."
"Oh, and I suppose the apples ate the cheese," she says sarcastically.
"I don't know what ate the cheese," I say slowly, accentuating each word, trying not to lose my temper, "but it wasn't me. I've been down by the stream collecting berries. Would you care for some?"
She walks over to the berries, still scowling, and scoops up a few, rolling them between her fingers. She stares at them for a moment and then we both jump at the sound of the cannon firing. She turns to me with a horrified expression. A hovercraft appears just a hundred yards or so away.
Crap!
I grab Katniss by the arm, pushing her toward a tree. "Climb! He'll be here in a second. We'll stand a better chance fighting him from above."
She stops me, looking pretty calm. "No, Peeta, she's your kill, not Cato's."
"What?" I ask confused. "I haven't even seen her since the first day. How could I have killed her?"
In answer she hold out the berries.