The Preserve [Tuesday late afternoon/evening]

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

After agreeing to meet Blysse in the preserve, Katniss had left the reserves meeting with a lighter feeling. She had missed hunting. Once she'd arrived at the agreed meeting spot, she found a tree she liked, and slung her bow over her shoulder before easily scrabbling up into it.

From her perch, she was able to see anyone or anything coming or going, and the forked branches she found made it easy for her to relax. She hadn't climbed a tree since the Games, but that was dismissed from her mind. Instead, she became still, listening to the woods as she waited.

[for she who is narratively mentioned, but open preserve is open!]

Comments

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Anyone else might've assumed upon arriving and finding no one waiting beneath the tree that they were first to arrive. However, most did not have the advantage of a wolf's nose. "Katniss, hello," Firekeeper called out, looking up into the tree branches and grinning.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Hi!" Katniss called, clearly impressed as she shimmied down the tree, smiling. "I wanted to see a little better," she explained, shrugging. "Habit."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"I understand," Firekeeper replied. "His legs is not made for such," she gestured at Blind Seer, "but mine is, and a tree can be a good place to watch. Or sleep."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Forked branches are perfect for that," she said, smiling. It was so strange, finally meeting someone else who understood. "Very few things hunt in trees. You're usually safe up high."

That included Career tributes, as Katniss had learned.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Usually," Firekeeper agreed. Some Beasts had the patience to wait one out, of course. "Is these woods much like the ones you know?" she asked.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

Katniss considered, and shrugged. "The plants are different, and our deer aren't blue," she admitted. "But otherwise, very similar. Yours?"

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"We growed up in the mountains," Firekeeper explained. "But the weather, and the trees, is mostly the same. No blue deer, either," she quirked a smile, "or fish with fur." She tilted her head inquiringly at Katniss, wondering if the other girl had discovered those yet.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

That got her a look slanted through Katniss's eyelashes. "Fish with fur?" she repeated. It sounded like some sort of horrible Capitol creation.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Tahiri and me discover them last summer, in the stream," Firekeeper confirmed. "They taste fine." Because of course she'd eaten one.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"But they have fur?" she asked, tilting her head. "And you're sure they're fish?"