(and amateur cartography)

[burnwithus]

The invisible fence that keeps the dinosaurs from entering the rest of the island reminds her of the electrified fence that surrounded District 12. It looked entirely foreign to her, the presence of something modern and terrible in the middle of the forest. She goes no further than the posts that mark it, not stupid enough to risk her life over the

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[likedtheodds]

Eventually, this was always going to happen. Gwaine's been growing more bored by the day and his curiosity at the creatures in the vast wastelands on the other side of the island are too much like dragons and wyverns for him to stay away. He knows about such magical creatures because of his exploring and in avoiding them for as long as he has, it's almost a sort of accomplishment. Today is the day he stops staying away.

Apple in one hand, sword in the other, he wanders through the area, intending to use the fruit as bait at the first lizard he sees.

[burnwithus]

She moves through the forest swiftly, trying to calm her screaming nerves. The last time Katniss had been this riled up, she'd shot Sawyer in the shoulder with an arrow. At this point, she's trying to avoid a repeat of that particular incident, and keeping the arrow loose between two fingers was one way of ensuring that.

Finally, she sees him. Looking as non-chalant as ever, apple in one hand. As if nothing was wrong with this little scene. "Gwaine? What the hell are you doing?"

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine raises both brows and gives Katniss an angry look -- as if somehow she's offended him by being there -- and wonders if she's going to get either of them further hurt with her presence. "What are you doing?" he demands in turn, his sword levied in her direction. "I'm out here to learn more about the creatures. And you?"

[burnwithus]

The sword pointed at her does nothing to improve her mood, which wasn't all that sunny to begin with due to a noted lack of sleep. Besides, Cato had used a sword in the Games, and she remembers how it looked still, flashing in his hand. Shiny under the layer of tracker jacker venom bubbling through her mind. All in all, very memorable.

Nor is the angry look helping, because how many times has she seen that exact same look on Gale's face?

"Fine. You're obviously alright here by yourself. I thought I heard someone calling, but I guess I was wrong," she turns on one foot, and reflects on how strange this is - a Gwaine that doesn't want her around, for a change.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine presses his lips together tightly, not wanting to admit right away that maybe he'd been calling out to see if that was human footsteps that he'd heard or whether he was being stalked by the same prey that he'd come out intending to follow. "You don't...you don't have to go so quickly," he admits, calling after her. "If you wanted to stay and help, maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

[burnwithus]

"Only if you're sure," she mutters, keeping the arrow nocked to the string just in case. Which turns out to be a good decision on her part, because a second later there's a momentous crash and the sound of falling trees, as a gigantic dinosaur is suddenly upon them.

If they get out of this alive, Katniss is going to kill Gwaine.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine tips his head back and for a moment, he stares in mild panic at the beast. It's definitely bigger than any wildreen or wyvern he's ever seen and this ranks slightly higher than getting stung by bees on a scale of pain. "Maybe we should run?" he suggests, sword already drawn and ready to pierce the beast's scales, if need be.

[burnwithus]

Katniss acts automatically, entirely on instinct. The arrow is shot within seconds, embedding itself in the dinosaur's eye, even as the second is drawn. The creature screams, blood spilling out of its wound that's punctured like a bad piece of fruit. Despite the pounding terror in her heart, the second arrow follows the first and hits the other eye, leaving the thing trampling chaotically around.

"One more," she grunts, desperate and determined, biting down on her lower lip. Trying to gauge it.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine steadies himself, sword resting in both hands strongly. "Katniss," he warns, nodding his head firmly as he listens to the racing beat of his heart. This is adrenaline, pure and simple, but he relishes it and welcomes it after so long away. "Fire and I'll deliver the ending blow. Swords don't count for much unless you're close," he points out.

[burnwithus]

"Or I could just kill it myself," she mutters, pricklier than usual because Katniss has had quite enough of adrenalin in the past two years. Gwaine might like it - she suspects that he's the type to seek it out but she doesn't, and now he's dragged her into this too. Nevermind that she came into the forest on her own accord; she wants to blame him, so she will.

But for once she does what she's told, which is a miracle on any account. Katniss fires once more, into the gaping wound that was the creature's right eye, driving the arrow deeper into the bleeding flesh.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine's quick on his feet, just in case he needs to defeat the creature, but it seems to be well-enough defeated by arrow alone. He whips his hair from off his face, glancing over his shoulder to catch a look at her while grinning in delight. "You're good with that thing. I'm not surprised, but you and I should be going out hunting far, far more."

[burnwithus]

He acts like it's nothing. Katniss turns to watch the now-blinded dinosaur stomp off in another direction. So she hadn't killed it, but it was a close run thing. Breathing hard, she whips around suddenly enough to have the element of surprise on her side before slamming one of her hands into his chest. It probably wouldn't even hurt him, given how skinny her arms were and how little upper-body strength Katniss posessed. But she had to find some way to get the anger out.

"You-- you're a fucking idiot, Gwaine," she shouts, visibly shaken from this latest brush with danger, especially from a body that was still getting used to not being on high alert all the time. "Do you have a death wish or something? I really want to know."

[likedtheodds]

He's little idea why she's so angry at him, but Gwaine doesn't like it in the least. "Whoa," he says, blinking warily and holding up both hands in the air to protest her yelling. "Why are you shouting? What's the matter, you've known that this is who I am. Just because this is the first time you found me here doesn't mean it's the first time I've come because I can, typically, handle myself," he snaps back at her.

[burnwithus]

"Typically?" Katniss shoots back, with a fire she didn't think she still had. But anger was a base emotion and a familiar one, and it doesn't take very long to get it back. She forces herself to take deep breaths, chest aching because of the speed of her heartbeat. After a few moments she had calmed down, one notch from the wild thing she had been originally. "I don't even know why I care about you," she mutters irritably, arms crossing against her chest. But if he's half as good at reading people as he is at getting drunk, he'll know that she doesn't actually mean it.

[likedtheodds]

"No, I don't know why, either," he admits, because this is what it inevitably boils down to. His drinking, his penchant for adventures (or his tendency to find trouble), they all mix together and they make people realize that he's not the sort of bloke one wants to be around. "And yet, here you are," he points out. "We should head out of the territory. I don't like being here when the sun goes down."

[burnwithus]

Yet here you are.

It was an infuriating truth, that no matter how hard Katniss tried to shut off her emotions and pretend she didn't care about anyone, someone always managed to slip through her defenses. In this case, many someones. On the island, where she had tried to tell herself that everything was temporary, this had still happened and she was kicking herself for it now.

She said nothing for a moment, turning and walking through the brush, making her way silently back to safety. After a moment, she looked behind her to see if he was still following.