Chapter 2: Hunting and First Face to Face Meeting

A few months had passed since Peeta had first seen Katniss and his training had reached the stage where only fighting instinct forge through battles could help him breakthrough his bottleneck so he had decided to go and hunt in the forest on the other side of the fence bordering the meadow. On the first Sunday he tried hunting in the forest he was spotted by a girl and her father hunting with homemade bows and arrows in the forest. His blunder turned o fortune once he realised that the little girl was his goddess katniss hunting with her father and that it must be their weekly hunting day. From that day onwards he would begin to stalk them from their house all through their hunt in the name of protecting the one he loves.

Despite the setback he faced seeing others he still managed to hunt a few rabbits and squirrels only piercing their eyes with a single bloodied kitchen knife. He then carried them home in a bag he fashioned himself out of animal furs. Unluckily for him he found no boar, bear, big cat, wolf or even a deer.

'These are terrible woods to hunt big game to fight with. Next time i'll have to go even further out'

Returning home disappointed in not finding what he wanted he handed the animal fur bag over to his father who looked at him with amazement.

"Son where did you get this? Did you steal it?", the boys father began suspecting him of being a crook.

"No! I hunted it by myself. It was so boring, what's the point of having an electric fence if there is no big animals nearby?" asked the boy pissed at the waste of resources put into the fence.

"Its there to keep us in isn't it?"

"What gave you that idea? It is there just in case."

"Whatever you say."

"Now about this 'hunting' of yours. You better stop it now before the peacekeepers get involved!"

"Why bother there are other people who do it and even sell to the peacekeepers."

"Yes there are but are family is different as we run a bakery and can afford food"

"Fine i'll only do it on a sunday then."

"No! You will stop it altogether"

"I'll run away then, live on the streets make a living by hunting game in the woods!"

"Fine I'll agree to once a week tops and no telling your mother she will throw a fit if she hears"

The father and son duo came to a tacit agreement. Peeta would hunt once as week bringing the meet back to serve as dinner as long as he didn't tell his demon of a mother.

The cycle of going to school to stare at katniss on weekdays and on a sunday hunting while looking out for her and her father.

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(katniss POV)

Today is Sunday, my favorite day of the week as it is the day which me and my father go out hunting in the woods. I have been a little jealous of my little sister prim lately as mother is spending more time with her, but its fine as i get to spend all sunday with farther out in the woods hunting with the bow he especially made for me. We start the day by wiggling under the little holeunder the fence which father dug out. We then head to the hollow tree where we pick up our bows. We string them and place them hanging over our backs like real hunters. The forest is only a few feet away so we easily duck under the cover of leaves. The leaves are a vibrant green due to the recent heavy shadows. The beaten path that my father and I have created is muddy and squelches under foot. I hear a squelch behind me only to see a flash of blonde hair disappearing into the distance. That face was oddly familiar. It then strikes me that he looks exactly like the creep who stares at me all day in class.

'What is he doing here? Doesn't matter i'm here to enjoy my time with father.'

"Come on sweetheart hurry up, today we're going to my secret hideout by a lake in the middle of the forest!"

"Okay father I'll walk as possible." I say speeding up as much as possible.

Arriving at the hideout, I am amazed it is like a garden of eden with its beautiful nearby flowers, the deep, clear water and the blue,open sky above all surrounded by a bastion of sturdy, tall oak trees which guard it from evil.

"Darling, this is my special place, the place I come to think about my troubles and let them go through singing," says my father as he indicates for me to sit on his lap while he sits on a ledge extending outwards from the shack, "now this place will be yours as well, it will be our shared place of happiness."

"This is amazing, how often can we come?"

""We can come every week as long as the weather permits, but you have to keep this place a secret. Secret from anyone else so no bragging about it to your sister, mother or anyone else for that matter. Do you understand?"

"TOTALLY!!!" I shout back.

"Okay, let's play!"

We then bein playing and playing and playing to our hearts content until finally it was time to head back home. We slowly retraced our steps put back the bows unstrung and headed home.

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(Third person POV)

That was the last time Katniss got to play in the hideout with her father as a few weeks later he was killed in a mine explosion. At the funeral Peeta stood as still as a statue hidden at the back watching Katniss cry her heart out for her deceased father. Next to her, her mother and younger sister were also deep in grief.

Unfortunately for them the compensation distributed from the capitol was only enough to support a month of grieving. This meant that the mother of Katniss would have to go back to work despite not getting over the death of her husband. Unluckily for the sisters their mother was in no state to do so, so they ended up having to survive meal to meal. It got to the point where one time they tried to steal from a bin of house only to find it empty. Fortune finally turned their way this time when it turned out to be Peeta's house and that both he and his mother were looking out the window. The mother then rushed outside.

"Shoo, shoo! Leave you vermin! Don't ever look through my bins again!"

The middle-aged woman then returned inside again to see the bread in the oven was burning.

"Peeta!"

"Yes mother", Peeta cowered backwards at his mothers rage.

"Why is the bread burnt? Did i not ask you to take it out?"

"So sorry mother, I forgot."

"You forgot! What a lame excuse? Go give the burnt loaves to the pigs and remember to not burn them next time or your father will beat you!"

"Okay mother", he then scuttled out of the kitchen outside.

'Wow , she's even worse than Sakura when she was angry. At least Sakura would only punch me mom always gives me a wack then scolds me. I may have a very strong body due to tempering it but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt '

He then body flickered down the road to where Katniss had her back turned. He then tapped on her back and forced the 2 burnt loaves into her hands and runs back.

'Who was that? Why did they give me bread loaves? He must be rich to give out loaves of bread for free. Wait, isn't he that guy from class who sits behind me. That creep Peeta Mellark. Whatever with this food i can feed mom and prim for a week!'

'Whew, I just made it back in time so Mother doesn't expect i gave the loaves to my goddess Katniss. I hope it's enough to tide her over for a week until I can get some game to leave at her doorstep like usual.'