Gale Hawthorne | The Hunger Games (fromtheseam) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2013-12-08 01:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, ~2013 december, ~25 points, ~~gale hawthorne (fromtheseam), ~~katniss everdeen (foragirlonfire) |
WHO: Gale Hawthorne and Katniss Everdeen
WHAT: Hunting and Catching Up
WHEN: Early Sunday morning
WHERE: The woods east of town
WARNINGS: Hunger Games warnings
STATUS: Closed/Ongoing
It was a cold morning in Madison Valley. While it hadn't snowed the night before, a light sheen of frost covered everything; frozen dew that sparkled in the growing light. The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was the perfect time to catch animals off guard, before they returned to sleep for the day. They had seen footprints in the frost, but as yet no actual animals. Still, they crept silently between the trees, their footsteps silent.
Gale couldn't count the hundreds of times he'd spent mornings just like this with Katniss. Since he was fourteen and she was twelve, the woods had been their home, the place they'd gone to escape the horrors of the Seam and to try to ensure that their families survived just a little longer. Going into the woods had been a rebellion in its own right. Rebellion, and freedom for just a moment from the Capitol that had created their world, and their place in it. And with the help of their excursions, they had kept their families together, kept them fed - better than most families in the Seam were fed.
It hadn't been until after her first Games that Gale had realized he was in love with her. He'd never had time for those sort of feelings - those were the sort of feelings you allowed yourself to have when your stomach was full and all your needs were taken care of. It was only when he had it pushed in his face by Peeta that he'd realized it. He supposed, like everyone else, that he'd always expected her to be there. He'd taken her for granted, probably. He'd expected to work a couple of years in the mines, then marry her when she turned eighteen. There wasn't any real romance in the thought, just a belief that it was what would happen, and should happen.
It wouldn't now, of course. Peeta was in the picture, and in a lot of ways he wished Peeta wasn't such a sweet person, so he could hate him like he wanted to. But he was, and he was good for Katniss. Even he had to admit that. He wouldn't exactly say that he'd moved on - although he hadn't been lacking female attention in District 2 - but he'd accepted it as the way things were, and would always be.
Gale heard a soft shuffling nearby and held up a hand to stop Katniss, crouching to the ground to hide himself behind the brush. A deer walked out into the clearing, a buck with eight or ten points - he couldn't tell in the pale light. He raised his bow, aiming carefully, and letting an arrow go, bringing down the buck cleanly and quickly.
He stood, grinning at her, no longer worried about the noise they made. This was all they'd be able to carry back, and they didn't have anything to trade for, here. Not in a place that had so much food so accessible.
"We'll go half and half? You can have half the meat, I'll take the rest."