She stands in the middle of the lake, her eyes looking at the mountains that surround them. The snow offers a white blanket of beauty all around them. Despite the frigid temperatures, she cannot help but see the beauty that’s all around her. There’s a sense of peace that washes over her. Despite everything that has happened in Novus as of late, she can still find peace and comfort in something as simple as a snow-covered lake. And as she stands on the frozen water, she sighs in absolute contentment.

The fire beside her crackles as the sun begins to rise. She had come out here last night to spend some solitude thinking about what she needed to do in order to get Isra back. She had told Metaphor where she would be going via a note written in the sand of their humble home. Finnick refused to let her go alone, so the bird had been keeping a watchful eye over her all night. As the sun began to rise, she send him on a hunt. After all, he needed to eat to keep up his strength. After all, he was still healing.

She hears Metaphor before he speaks, the way his feet crunch the snow. She recognizes the way his pace is slow and deliberate, the way he breathes in the cool morning air. The only thing that tells him that she knows he’s there is the way her ears follow the sound of his approach.

And as he comes closer to her small little campsite, she turns her body to greet him fully. She steps closer to him, her head wrapping around his own in a loving embrace. “Good morning. I did not mean to leave you and make you worry.” She had just needed time to think and reflect. “I just needed some time to think.” To think about what was to happen in order to find Isra, what to do about Raum, and what she wanted out of her relationship with Metaphor. So many things were on her mind, so many things that distracted her form the task at hand. Although her love for the sorrel next to her was strong and it made her feel alive, it cluttered her thoughts. As a warrior, it was dangerous to love someone as fiercely as she loved Metaphor. And yet, she was not willing to let those feelings go away.

@Metaphor

Even though she knew that he was well aware that she could take care of herself, she still felt the need to apologize for just slipping away. No longer was she a single woman with no one who worried about her. Metaphor was her better half and he deserved to know where she was. She didn’t have to tell him, but she wanted to. This particular morning, she just had a lot on her mind and she needed some fresh air and time to think. The frozen lake had offered that for her, at least a little bit.

He asked if the peace of the morning had helped her think and she nodded her head as she leaned into his tender caress. “It offered some help, but I’m afraid I need far more confidence in myself than I can muster.” Confidence to find a way to bring Isra home. Confidence to be the battle champion Isra wanted her to be. Confidence to ask Metaphor for the chance to be a mother again. So many things she felt as if she wasn’t ready for. But if she truly weren’t ready, then she would not be standing here in this predicament. Isra would have never given her a job that she did not think she could handle.

For the moment, she took in the feeling of him leaning against her neck. She heaved a heavy sigh of contentment. She wished she could capture this moment and hold it dear to her forever. It was as if she wanted to take a picture of this moment and carry it wound with her so she could relive it over and over again. She would not lose Metaphor again, she couldn’t. Her heart would not be able to take such a loss ever again.

It was the question about Finnick that brought her thoughts back to reality. She smiled as she looked down at Metaphor. “He’s doing much better thanks to you.” She looks around her. She can feel the pull of Finnick and knows that he is close, although she cannot see him. “He felt well enough to stretch his wings, so he’s out hunting. He’s close, I can feel him.” He was probably enjoying a breakfast of mouse or small bird. Anything was better than the grass and fruits that she and Metaphor seemed to enjoy.

She is quiet for a moment  as she looks out over the lake, taking in the peace and serenity it seems to offer. She gathers her thoughts for a moment before she looked to Metaphor. “I got a letter from Isra attached to the leg of a sparrow made of smoke. She has made me champion of battle…and asks that I gather the army and train them. She wants me to protect those that live here while she protects us all from Raum.” Katniss had known that Isra was considering her for a promotion, so it should not have come as a surprise that it was now that she was called upon. But still, the news had been shocking. Katniss was just happy to know that Isra was alive. That was all that mattered.

@Metaphor - and I love this picture too!