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ilguna · 1 year

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☼ hunter and the prey (Gale Hawthorne) ☼

summary; Gale's restless that he can't hunt while he's sick, so you take it upon yourself to help him out.

warnings; swearing, animal death. weapon use, ehh gore.

wc; 3.8k

–

In your time of dating Gale, there’s only been a few times where you can remember him getting sick. It doesn’t happen often, he’s got a strong immune system compared to most people. He’s also got a few siblings, which also might be a factor as to why he’s so resistant to the illnesses that spread around District Twelve.

Besides, he goes out of his way to be very careful with staying healthy. He doesn’t like being put out of commission, because that means he’ll fall behind on the routine that he’s worked so hard to perfect over the years. If there’s anything you know for sure about Gale, it’s the fact that he’s set in his ways, and he doesn’t like to change if he doesn’t have to.

When you first started dating him, you thought that the two of you weren’t going to work out because of it. He didn’t have extra time to spend with you, because it was constantly filled with movement. He’s not really a fan of idle hands, which means he’d much rather find something to do instead of relaxing for even a minute.

It was a hard couple of weeks, until it clicked. You figured out that you had to fit yourself into his schedule somehow if you wanted to be with him, and you did. If you could be around him enough to develop feelings for him, then you could find a solution for this minor problem.

If he went to run errands, then you were on your feet to join him. You’ve been all over District Twelve, thanks to him. You never thought that you’d have to go inside of the Hob, because you manage to scrape by without it, but Gale brought you inside because of trading business. He introduced you to many people that knew him by name, and recognized your face from being around him often.

And if he was babysitting his siblings for his mom, you were suddenly babysitting with him, too. It was the quickest way you could get them used to you. The good news is that they’re younger, and therefore impressionable. It didn’t take long before you were being hounded each time you came through the door.

The only time you try not to go with Gale is when he’s going outside of the fence, and it’s not because you’re afraid of what’s out there. You’ve gone out on a dare before, and separate times of your own free will to explore what’s out there. You used to sit in the middle of the woods with your sketchbook to draw out what you saw around you. If it weren’t illegal, you would’ve built yourself a house out there already and moved.

The reason why you don’t go with Gale is because most of the time he’s going out there with Katniss. You met her a good handful of times prior to dating Gale, and now you see her all the time because they’re best friends. The last thing you want is to take away their hunting day, especially since you’ve managed to squeeze yourself into most of Gale’s week already. They can have a day together, and you’ll have to get over being bored for a few hours.

If you really wanted to go out there with Gale, all you’d have to do is ask, and he’d find a day where it would make the most sense. The two of you would have to clear your schedule, aim for a sunny day, and have a reason for going out there. And it usually ends with Gale hunting while you try to draw the deer before he kills it.

It’s not really appealing.

“How much did this medicine cost?” Gale asks hoarsely, holding up the glass bottle that you bought from the local medical shop. If you even stop foot into a doctors office to buy it, they’ll suck your soul from your body as payment.

You give Gale a look, “Don’t ask questions that you know will hurt your feelings.”

“I can’t accept this, then.” He places the bottle onto the table by his bed. “I told you not to buy me anything.”

“And I told you that I don’t care.” You smooth the hair out of his face, and then press the back of your hand to his forehead. He’s warming up again, you should grab him a cold rag. “If you don’t drink it, then my money’s going to waste.”

Gale sets his jaw, glaring at you. He knows that he’s already lost this fight, because that’s the last thing he wants to hear, that you’ve wasted your money on him. “Fine.”

You give him a slight smile, “I’ll go grab a spoon and another rag. Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

“No, I’ll be fine without it.”

You get up from where you’re sitting on the side of the bed. You leave his room, heading down the hallway and to the living room, where Rory, Posy and Vick are playing. Hazelle’s in the kitchen, carefully chopping up the vegetables you bought for the soup that Gale will be eating later. You and her have decided not to tell him that it came from you. He’ll lose his mind if he finds out.

“Is he doing okay?” She glances at you.

You pull open the drawer that has the silverware, pulling out a spoon, “Yeah, he’s just mad that I got him the medicine.”

She lets out a laugh, “I told you he would be. I really do appreciate your help.”

“I know.” You smile at her, “I’m going to grab him another rag, he’s warming up again.”

“Dinner should be ready soon, are you going to stay?” She rests the knife against the cutting board.

“I wish I could, but I promised my mom I’d be home because she needs help cleaning the house. We’re having guests over.”

“Do you want to take any of the soup home?” Her eyebrows lift.

“No, it’s fine. I got everything for you, and it’s nice to have leftovers.” You smile, “I’m going to give him the spoon and leave the medicine here. It’s the strong stuff, but it should knock out most of the pain.”

“Thank you, (Y/n).”

“It’s no problem.” You wave her off, heading to the bathroom.

You wet a clean rag, making sure the water’s cold. You wring most of the water out until it’s damp, before leaving to go back to Gale. He’s sitting up on his bed now, looking over the bottle.

“Is this the sweet kind?” He asks, looking at you, “Tell me you didn’t spend that much on it.”

“No, because that would be lying.” You set the spoon down, and hand over the rag, “It's on-brand, that’s why it costs more.”

You sit back on his bed, watching his face. He sets the vial back onto the table, “I’m going to be so behind on hunting. Katniss said she would do her best, but we’ve been having trouble catching anything lately.”

“That’s what I’m here for, right?” You ask, giving him a smile.

He shakes his head at you, “No, I don’t want you spending any more money on me. I’ll handle it.”

“How, Gale?” Your face twists, “You can’t go out there and hunt right now, the heat’ll kill you.”

“What other choice do I have?”

“Stay in bed and heal.” You raise your eyebrows. “You push yourself too far, you know that? It’s the reason why you get brought down so bad when you get sick.”

“No, I’m used to it by now.” He looks away, “Tomorrow’s got to be the last day.”

You let out a sigh, straightening up, “Speaking of tomorrow, I won’t be in until late because I’ve got plans with my mom. I’ll come in as soon as I can.”

“How late?” His eyes are back on your face, “You expect me to stay in bed without you here?”

“You have your mom.” You laugh, “Shouldn’t be any later than noon. I don’t want you worrying if I come late, though.”

“No promises.” He says, sitting back against the pillows.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You smile, getting to your feet, “Your mom says that dinner will be ready soon, also.”

“See you later.” He places the rag on his forehead, head falling back as he closes his eyes.

You leave his room, sweeping the door behind you, but it doesn’t shut all the way in case he calls for Hazelle. You say goodbye to the kids on the way out, giving Hazelle a hug, promising to be back tomorrow.

The good news is that you don’t actually have plans with your mom tomorrow. You’re cleaning the house today for tomorrow because she’s the one that has plans. You, however, already decided two days ago that you were going to go beyond the fence for Gale.

This isn’t the first time he’s complained about not being able to hunt, and the fact that Katniss is going to try and catch him up. The both of you know she means it when she says that she’ll try. The issue is that she’s got a busier schedule, she’s watching her sister most of the time. And Primrose isn’t a fan of watching Katniss hunt.

Which leaves you, because you’ve got the mobility and experience of going outside the fence. You wish you could just give them the last of your savings for emergencies like this, but Gale will never forgive you for doing that. And money’s useful for a while, but he’s got a commitment to the people in the Hob, he’s got to trade with them instead of spending his money somewhere else.

You already know where Gale hides his bow, and the spots where he sets up his snares. You just need to follow the path and take your time with the arrows. He says you’re impatient with the bow because you watch him use it all the time, which is true. He’s able to aim and release within seconds, and you don’t want to wait for the perfect moment to shoot.

It’ll be a long day tomorrow.

—

You let out a yawn, not bothering to cover your mouth. Tears appear in your eyes for the hundredth time, you wipe them away. They’re little reminders that you’re up far too early and you would give anything to go back to bed right now.

You glance over your shoulder, checking behind you to make sure that no one is following you. When you go out of the fence, you’re not normally this paranoid. However, most of the time you’re carrying a sketchbook and colored pencils, not an empty bag, a hunting knife and lunch.

You’re going out for a completely different purpose.

There’s no one behind you. You creep up to the fence, getting close to listen for a few long seconds to make sure you don’t hear any humming. You’ve never seen the fence on before, but there’s a first for everything. You’ll be screwed if you get caught on the other side.

When there’s silence, you toss the bag between the gap of the wire, and then you pull the middle one up far enough for you to step through. You let go, reaching to grab your bag, watching as the wire bounces up and down. When you’ve got it secured on your body again, you begin to walk into the woods.

You follow the path that Gale walks, between a tree and a bush, through several patches of grass. Half a mile in, the land begins to dip, leading you down to the tree where Gale hides his bow. As for Katniss’ it’s a mile to the left to spread it out far. When they come to hunt, they don’t play around with chance.

You find the tree with the snarled root, weaving in the air before plunging back into the earth. The base of the tree has a small gap that undoubtedly holds all sorts of bugs. You hold your breath when you reach in, grabbing the bow, and carefully navigating it out. You have to go in again for the arrows that are leaned up on the inside.

You pull five out, which is more than enough for you. You’ll be lucky if you can even catch two without Gale here to guide you. You’re mostly banking on the fact that Gale’s snares have been successful with him gone. It’ll save you a lot of time.

Either way, you start heading in the direction of the first snare, being sure to keep an eye out for anything that might be hiding. It doesn’t take too long before you get there, and find your first rabbit. Gale has the snares set so that it strangles them, because he doesn’t like killing them himself. And it saves him time so he can move on quicker.

You untangle the bunny, pressing your lips together when you lift its limp body, before setting him inside of the bag. You reset the snare, one thing that you’re decently good at, before heading for the next one, further along the bank. Him and Katniss will pick up his bow, walk this path while he takes the rabbits, and then her bow is on the other side. And they like to hunt for hours after, too.

You watch nature come alive, the sun rising from the horizon. There’s nothing else to do. You’d hum to yourself, if you weren’t so afraid of getting caught out here. You also have to keep an eye out for unexpected hovercrafts. There’s been times where they’ve materialized out of thin air, scaring the shit out of you and Gale.

The next snare is empty, so you continue going. However, you don’t make it far before you’re stopping dead in your tracks, and slowly lowering into a crouch behind a bush. You reach for one of the arrows that are resting inside of the bag, pulling it out, and lining it up on the bow.

A deer.

You’d have to get this shot perfectly to even entertain the idea of taking it down. If you so much as miss and hit its body, it’ll run too far for you to catch it. Gale will be down an arrow, and you’ll feel like an idiot for thinking you can take it down in the first place.

You pull the string back farther.

On the other hand, if you nail this shot, Gale won’t have to worry about coming out here for the next few days. The rabbits are nice and all, but people would go crazy for a piece of a fresh deer, let alone a whole one. It would take you so long to drag it back to the fence, and you’re not even sure how you’d be able to get it into town without people lunging for it, but the look on his face would be worth it.

You breathe carefully through your mouth, keeping the bow steady while you adjust when the deer moves. Its head dips, eyes disappearing. It can’t see you, which is exactly what you need. You’ve seen Gale take down a deer before, and after he told you it’s a hard thing to pull off with one arrow, but he did it.

Which means you can too.

You aim for a spot behind the lower shoulder, because that’s where Gale got, and it went down immediately. It’s hard to run when you’ve got an arrow through your weak spot.

The deer begins to move, you rest the string for a second, waiting to see how far it’ll move before it stops again. You prepare the arrow again, and freeze when the deer looks right in your direction. You can’t move, or it’ll run. They’ve caught onto the hunters in the woods.

Your arms begin to shake from the strain to keep them in this position. You’re about to give up and put it down, when the deer lowers its head again. And right after, you find the tuft of hair that you need to aim for. You fix the arrow, and then release it, watching it shoot through the air and impale the deer within seconds.

It miraculously hits the spot you were aiming for, and you take off after the deer, because its first instincts are to run when it’s hurt. It’s a pain in the ass to run uphill, especially when nature is whipping at you every chance it gets. You manage to keep sight of the deer, and that’s all that matters.

You lose track of how far you run, though, and how much time it takes to catch up to it. It collapses from losing too much blood, and when you catch up to it, it’s struggling to stay alive. You reach into the hunting bag to grab the knife, biting the inside of your cheek. You really, really don’t want to do this.

It takes you too long to muster up the heart to kill the deer, and you start the new journey of dragging it back to the bank where the snares are. You’re sweating and miserable, but you leave it there temporarily while you quickly go through the last of the snares. You pocket three more rabbits, and then go back to the deer.

You spend two hours dragging the deer back through the path you took to get down to the bank, depositing the arrows and bow back into the tree on your way. You leave the deer halfway in the treeline, where you’ll be able to find it.

You sprint out of the trees and to the fence, pausing briefly to make sure it’s quiet before you cross it. On the other side, you start running for Katniss’ house, hoping that she’s home, because she’s the only way this deer is going to get inside of District Twelve without you getting arrested.

You’re out of breath and soaked in sweat when you get to her house. She answers the door, leaving only a gap to see who it is, before she opens it fully. “(Y/n), is Gale okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine.” You gasp, coughing from the way the air tickles the back of your throat, “I went hunting for him, because he was worried.”

Katniss gives you a look of pure judgement and disbelief. You open the leather bag, showing her the dead rabbits inside. The expression drops, she nods, “Do you need help with the Hob?”

“I need help dragging in the deer I killed.” You say.

Katniss blinks, and lets out a laugh, “You didn’t kill a deer.”

“It’s dead with an arrow through its lungs right now. I got it to the treeline but we both know it’ll get torn apart the second I bring it inside. I need help.” You say.

“You’re serious.” She says, it’s not a question, “Give me a minute.”

She shuts the door, you back off of the porch, crossing your arms. It only takes her two or three minutes before she comes out, wearing her booths and the leather jacket she wears while hunting. She walks around to the side of her house, grabbing a wheelbarrow.

“This is the only way we can do it.” She says.

The two of you make the trek all the way back to the fence, where you tell Katniss why you decided to do this for Gale. It’s simple really, you want him to get better faster, and the only way that can happen is if he relaxes about the hunting problem. Katniss agrees, and then she tells you that you just did him the biggest favor.

At the fence, you bring Katniss to where you left it. She helps you get it to the fence, underneath it, and lifts it into the wheelbarrow. This is when she tells you that you have to bring it to Gale’s house. It’s significantly closer, and there you can get Gale so the three of you can bring it to the Hob, because it needs to be sold immediately.

While on the way there, Katniss inspects where you shot it, agreeing that you got it in the right place. You tell her how you chased the deer through the woods and she laughs at you slightly.

“We’ll be set for the rest of the week.” Katniss says, “Assuming we’re splitting it.”

“Of course, you and Gale will split the winnings. It’s only fair.”

“You don’t want a part of it?” Katniss asks, “I’m sure you could get in good, too.”

“No, this is for you guys.”

When you get to Gale’s house, Katniss sends you inside so she can keep an eye on the animal. Hazelle answers the door, “He’s been worried sick about you.”

“I told him not to.” You sigh, going straight to Gale’s room.

You push the door open to find that he’s pulling on his shoes, face screwed while he does it, “I’m going, mom.”

“No need to.” You say, Gale’s eyes shoot up.

He gets to his feet, crossing the room and pulling you into a tight hug. He squeezes you against his body, “Where have you been?”

“I thought I told you to relax.” You laugh, head falling back to look at him.

He presses a kiss to your lips, holding you there for a minute, until he pulls away, “How could I? You’re late.”

“I think you’re delirious.” You laugh, backing away from the hug, “Come here, I want to show you something.”

“Is it an explanation?”

“More or less.” You pull him to the front door, where you can see Katniss on the other side, arms crossed over her chest.

“You were hanging out with Katniss?” He asks, ducking under the doorway. “Holy shit.”

“I think you’ve got a keeper.” Katniss muses, “Or we’ve got another partner.”

Gale looks at you, “You went hunting?”

“Well, yeah.” You shrug, “You were worried, so I went out and did what I could. I got four rabbits from your snares and reset them for you. And I found a deer along the way.”

“Found?” He asks, laughing, “You shot a deer? With who’s bow?”

“Yours, of course. I couldn’t imagine taking Katniss’.” You murmur, crossing your arms across your chest, “It took me for-fucking-ever to drag the deer through the woods. I had to get Katniss to help me.”

“Are we taking it to the butcher’s or the Hob?” He asks, looking at Katniss.

“Depends on where you think we’ll get the most from it. The butcher will take a portion, and then we can sell it for more at the Hob.” Katniss raises her eyebrows.

“We split it three ways?”

“Two.” You say, “Just you and Katniss, I don’t need it.”

Gale gives you a look, “We’ll save a part of it so we can eat it at my house, how about that?”

“Deal.” You smile.

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