The walk through the wilds was a little more difficult than Prim had expected. In the past when she had gone out with Gale, the forest had always been brightly lit and felt secure but now that the sun had set, it was hard to see and Prim's eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness. She stumbled here and there, just like Haymitch thought she would, but the blonde girl made sure not to complain and to keep moving so as not to slow anyone down. She didn't care what Haymitch thought of her; Gale and Katniss were a different story and Prim [i]never[/i] wanted to look like a burden. She didn't want the two of them to feel responsible for her anymore and it was hard not to feel guilty whenever either would ask how she was holding up, or if she was alright.

It wasn't long before the four of them found a place to make camp for the night. There was a small clearing among the trees with little debris that needed to be moved out, but the area was cleaned up in no time at all. “You know how to climb trees, Katniss,” Prim pointed out, curious as to why that needed to be practiced. During the last games, the dark-haired girl had spent half of her time in the arena up a tree, so Prim didn't see how that would be useful practice. The same could be said for making a fire—even Prim knew how to do that thanks to Gale. Bitterly, Prim thought that maybe it was Haymitch who was holding Katniss back, and not the other way around where the people who loved and cared about her were seen as a distraction. He had her sister doing things she already knew how to do, instead of preparing for more dire situations.

Prim kept her mouth shut, sure that Gale saw the look on her face and extended the offer to collect wood and brush for the fire. She managed a smile at Katniss's warning before slipping into the darkness with the tall huntsman. The night was quiet and cool, and Prim found many small branches and patches of grass for kindling, which she carried in her arms as they stayed close and moved along together. It wasn't until Gale reached out to touch her did Prim start paying any kind of attention to their surroundings. She dropped what she had gathered and stilled, trying her hardest to see through the trees and feel any kind of gaze in return and then finally, she saw a deer moving through the trees. Its gait was unstable, the poor thing was probably sick of wounded; she didn't want it to suffer.

“Can you get it from here?” she whispered to the boy at her back. They were incredibly close at that moment, and the breeze that wafted through the forest carried the smell of pine, earthy and familiar—very much like home, very much like Gale. Prim shook her head, blushing in the darkness and embarrassed for thinking such things at a time. She crouched down slowly, knowing Gale kept a knife on his ankle. Her finger brushed over his skin as she grasped the handle and held the weapon firmly in her hand. Deep down, she knew that she wouldn't be able to use it, but she wanted to look brave.

Back at camp, Haymitch had just finished clearing out a space for the fire. It was away from the wind, not too close to the trees to be dangerous, but sheltered enough to keep it from going out. He stood up from the ground to stretch and looked over at Katniss as she spoke to him. He wasn't happy with the choice she had made, but stood by his decision to let her do what she wanted. He wasn't her mentor anymore and he never had been able to make her do much of anything when her mind was already made up. Haymitch would bear it, but he wouldn't pretend to do anything for her. 

“Stop trying to be friendly with me, kid,” he felt the need to take her down a peg or two, although he wasn't sure why. In the last few months, he and Katniss had grown incredibly close, and she was the closest thing he had to a friend there in District 12. It was strange, because the former Victor had always though it would be he and Peeta that would bond, the baker being a guy and all. Maybe that was reaching a little, Peeta was too sweet to hang out with someone like him on a constant basis. Frowning to himself, Haymitch did his best to stop thinking and clear his head. He needed to focus on training, not the inner-workings of his odd relationship with a girl who had a bad attitude.

Scratching at the back of his neck, Haymitch raised an eyebrow at Katniss's words. “For what?” he questioned the girl, “they went to get firewood.” Unlike Katniss, Haymitch didn't have a sixth sense when it came to the woods, he had never been a hunter and preferred hanging out around the Seam in his youth rather than trying to get past the fence that had worked once upon a time. Regardless, Katniss worrying about Gale and Prim was the reason he hadn't wanted them to come along in the first place—they were slowing them down already, being distractions when Katniss needed to train and work on getting herself up a tree easier than she had in the last Games. He remembered watching her struggle with the other mentors, the way Gloss had mentioned taking her out himself had he been in the arena, and the shouting match that ensued afterward between himself and the other victor. Even then, Haymitch had felt the need to protect her, to cheer her on and help her even though no one liked her much, and she was rough around the edges. In a way, Katniss reminded Haymitch of himself, and he was left wondering whether that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Even though they were home, and nothing too threatening could be lurking through the woods at this time of year, Haymitch was compelled to follow Katniss into the woods. “They went this way,” he sighed, nodding toward the north side of the clearing. He walked forward, leading the way as he checked the weapon secured on his hip. It was a small ax, something he had picked up at the Hob to train with. He had never been one for spears, or swords, or anything flashy; this worked just fine.

Keeping his voice quiet, Haymitch turned to the dark-haired girl, “do you hear them?” he asked, straining himself to hear as well. There was rustling not far off, but he couldn't be sure it was Gale and Prim.