A/N:

Thanks for reading! This is my first Hunger Games fanfic, although I have a few other stories in a few other categories so I'm not unused to this whole story-writing process.

So, this came to me when I was thinking about Gale, and the end of Mockingjay; to me, Gale had a very unsatisfactory ending. Basically, this is The Hunger Games through Gale's perspective, but with a little twist. This first chapter's kinda short, but they'll get longer, I promise! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Gale was hunting again.

That was, in itself, unremarkable, as he spent nearly all of his spare time hunting, but that particular day just felt strange and... different somehow.

At first he wasn't exactly sure why. The forest wasn't any different than usual; game practically leaped into his snares, since it was the height of summer and everything was out and about. There was an abundance of green, leafy flora- again, unsurprising, considering the season. A chorus of mockingjays twittered off in the distance, echoing whatever it was that caught their fancy, while other birds tried hopefully to join in. Those other birds failed miserably; one just couldn't compete with the majesty of a mockingjay.

Gale finally placed the strange feeling as he turned to comment on it to Katniss.

She wasn't there.

It was another moment before he could remember exactly why she was gone.

Bitter memories assailed him: him suggesting to Katniss that they run away together on the dawn of reaping day, Prim's name- of all names!- being drawn from the bowl by the idiot Effie Trinket, Katniss volunteering to take her sister's place, District 12's unanimous three-fingered salute in honor of Gale's best friend. The brave Katniss Everdeen, the only person from District 12 to ever volunteer for the Hunger Games. And she will be the third person to win from District 12.

He recalled those last moments together in the Justice Building. He had told her that she could win those Games, that killing humans wasn't all that different from hunting animals, that he would provide for her family until she came back. Not necessarily in that order.

Not necessarily true.

How could he know what it was like to kill a human? He'd never done it before. The Capitol people did, though, every year, and they didn't seem to... Gale decided not to finish that thought. He decided that those idiots just didn't care what they did.

But he had told her what she needed to hear, and he was going to try his hardest to carry out his part of the bargain, despite the fact that it would be hard all by himself.

However, it was the least he could do after what she had done.

Anger surged through him then, anger at the harsh, uncaring Capitol, anger at Katniss for sacrificing herself to the Capitol, anger at the districts for rebelling in the first place and bringing all this down on their heads... It all came back down to the Capitol; every bit of it was the Capitol's fault. He hoped that Katniss would win, because if she didn't, he didn't know what he would do. Well, start a war, probably. The thought brought a wry smirk to his lips.

Gale forced himself back to the present as he neared one of the snares that he had placed closest to the fence. He swiftly shook off his early-morning disorientation and checked the trap to discover that he'd caught a rabbit. Grimly pleased, he removed the rabbit from his snare and dropped it into his game bag.

Glancing around warily, he rose slowly to his feet, reaching for his knife; the strange feeling had returned. Now it was manifesting itself in the form of a weird prickling at the back of his neck, as if his hair was standing on end. He absently rubbed the spot as he peered into the trees, pivoting slowly to search for the source of his discomfort. He cursed the predawn darkness, which made it nearly impossible to see anything.

It was another few moments before he realized that the strange feeling was familiar, and another few seconds before he could place it exactly.

He was being watched.

Now this was a common feeling when you were in the woods- the more cautious animals always kept a close eye on anything treading through their territory- but rarely had he felt it with so much intensity.

He wondered if it had to do with Katniss being gone. Perhaps the sensation had been dampened with someone at his side as she took some of the stares, or maybe it had just been easier to ignore.

Perhaps someone had figured out his "secret".

Gale and Katniss had been hunting in the woods for years, so it wasn't exactly unknown that they went through the fence (or, rather, underneath it). The Peacekeepers generally didn't care as long as they returned with meat to trade, although it wasn't entirely unlikely that a new Peacekeeper had arrived and followed him out of curiosity. But if it was Peacekeepers, they would have already confronted him and forced him back within the confines of the fence. Technically, he could get in big trouble for hunting out past the fence. Like, whipping or maybe even bullet-in-the-head kind of trouble.

So it probably wasn't a person.

His mind inadvertently flashed back to the time Katniss had been followed around for a huge lynx for days on end, and a smile leapt unbidden to his face. It disappeared just as quickly when he thought of her in the train at that very moment on her way to the Capitol. Shaking his head, he reigned in his mind again; he was probably just being followed by a big cat. The thought caused his hold on the knife to tighten, although the idea that he wasn't being tracked by a human was mildly reassuring. He wondered if he was just jumpy from worrying about Katniss in the arena. He shook his head again and continued on through the forest, berating himself inwardly for standing around like a suspicious idiot and wasting time that he could have used for hunting...

He walked several hundred yards, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

As a result, he found himself moving faster and glancing repeatedly over his shoulder while he systematically checked his snares. He even inadvertently startled a group of crows at one point, something he hadn't done since he had first started hunting in these woods.

He wished Katniss was there to shoot those birds down. His aim was nowhere near as perfect as hers.

Gale grimaced at the thought of his best friend. Here he was, freaking out over a funny feeling, while she was undoubtedly on her way to the Capitol at that very moment!

Crack.

What was that?

Gale whirled around, scowling and clutching his knife. Animals definitely didn't make that kind of sound when they stepped on twigs, unless it was a bear... and Gale rarely saw those.

He waited in a slight crouch, still hanging on tightly to his knife, straining his ears, rigid as a statue. A breeze picked up then, ruffling his thick, dark hair; a rooster crowed in the distance as the sun finally peeked above the horizon. His family would be rising right about then, so Rory and Vick could get ready for school, which was exactly what he should have also been doing right at that very moment.

Gale, on the other hand, still didn't twitch a muscle. He knew he needed to get home, but he refused to move until he figured out what was watching him. He could sense another presence out there, probably as still as he was; and he wasn't going to ignore it- whatever it was- only to be stabbed or shot in the back the minute he made an attempt to move away.

A part of his mind wondered briefly if this was what Katniss was going to feel like when she went into the arena. The feel of being the hunted, rather than the hunter.

No, Katniss could take care of herself. Just like Gale needed to at that very moment.

Finally, he dared to speak up. "Who's there?"

Something, several yards off in the trees, shifted. It was barely audible, but he definitely heard something that sounded out of place. In fact, if he hadn't been paying attention, he would have attributed it to the breeze.

"I know you're out there," he stated, beginning to grow impatient; even a hunter's patience isn't infinite. Especially not when the hunter is Gale. "You might as well come out now, unless you'd rather I track you down and-"

A girl stepped out of the trees.

The first thing he noticed about her was her eyes. They were green- bright, emerald green.

And they struck him as incredibly familiar, though the memory of them felt like it was dancing just past his fingertips.

She gazed at him haughtily with those bright green eyes, as poised as (what Gale imagined) a princess would look like.

Other than her eyes, though, she had the general look of one who was born in the Seam, definitely not a princess. Olive skin, dark hair. Slender, but not as skinny as most Seam families looked: decently well-fed, but she obviously didn't eat as well as the Capitolites. On closer inspection, though, he realized that despite the fact that her hair was dark, it was slightly different than the hair of most girls that he saw. It was almost an unnaturally glossy, jet black color, very long- Gale guessed it fell nearly to her waist- and incredibly curly. She had it pulled up into a ponytail, but it was so thick it didn't appear to make much of a difference.

She wore plain clothes of a faded brown color- again, not unlike those you would see in the Seam. She also wore leather boots that looked to be fairly comfortable, if a bit worn. Overall, she wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she wasn't incredibly ugly, either. Her most dazzling feature was undoubtedly her eyes.

But she just looked so familiar! Gale couldn't remember where he had seen her, though, and he definitely couldn't recall seeing her around the Seam. Maybe around school? He doubted that- it was possible, but most likely he would have remembered those eyes. As it was, though, a memory continued to probe the back of his mind like an annoying bee, but he still couldn't quite catch it. He wondered if it would sting him when he did.

He realized then that she was holding something in her hands. His gaze slid down to look more closely, and he observed with a start that she was holding daggers. Several more, smaller knives were strapped to her belt. His eyes, slightly widened in shock, snapped back up to her face. She cocked an eyebrow in a skeptical expression that was, at the same time, faintly amused. It was only then that he realized how petite she was, barely reaching his chest, shorter even than Katniss.

Katniss. What was she doing at that moment? Being prepped for the tributes' parade, most likely. She'll probably be unrecognizable by tonight... He recalled all the makeup that the stylists would usually clump onto their tributes, most of which had probably never worn makeup before in their lives. He didn't even want to think about the stupid costumes they would usually make District 12 wear. If they weren't naked.

"Enjoying the view?" the strange girl asked airily, causing him to snap guiltily back to the present. He was mortified by the sudden warmth in his cheeks, but it dissipated almost instantly when he saw her wry smile, teasing rather than taunting. She held out her hand then, laying her dagger flat on her palm so he could get a better look. It was very sharp; she obviously took good care of the blade, although the hilt was little more than a strip of leather. Looking closer, Gale thought he saw something blue glittering at the pommel of the dagger, but she yanked it back before he could get a better look. It appeared that she had a matching set, for she held a similar dagger in her other hand. With practiced ease she slipped them both into small sheathes at her belt before looking up at him expectantly.

"Those look incredibly impractical for hunting," Gale managed, eyeing her suspiciously with a slight frown. His gaze lingered on her sheathed daggers. He reminded himself to be careful. She looked like she knew how to use those things.

"Oh, those aren't for hunting." She stroked the leather hilts before she smirked and gestured to the smaller knives at her waist. "These are."

She stuck out her right hand then, grinning oddly. Without thinking, he reached out and shook it. Her hand, soft and warm but still firm, was completely enveloped by his. Her emerald gaze twinkled at him, accompanied by a crooked smile..

"I'm Reyna."