minty fresh (Gorim)

Back home in district nine the people were hunters. Most of the meat from the animals they killed was sent straight to the capitol. However, most families were fortunate enough to bring in more than enough game to have some for them to eat. As a result, Aiden had grown up eating meat. Vegetables, cheese, and fruits were just something unheard of.

However, things were different now for Aiden. Yes she lived in a forest with a knife, a bow, and plenty of animals to kill, so one would expect her to continue eating as she had. The issue was, when Aiden ran away from her district, she hadn’t conveniently had matches on her. After all, up until the last moment, she had no idea she would become a runaway. Therefore despite having the means and skills to bring down an animal, there was no point in doing so unless Aiden intended to eat beef raw which was bad for her taste buds and her health.

Therefore, Aiden thanked her lucky starts that when she first started hunting she didn’t only pay attention to the animals. Her dad also taught her to gather the plants in the woods. Even to this day, Aiden knew which were good to eat, which had healing powers, and which were poisonous, three facts she counted herself lucky to know. As a result here in the open woods, Aiden turned not to hunting rather to gathering.

This morning as always, Aiden was up gathering plants. She walked with silence through the woods like usual not wanting to alert anyone of her presence. As she walked, Aiden kept her eyes open for two things: others and plants to use. Every once in a while, she would come to a familiar plant causing her to pause for a moment and pluck it from the ground. Smiling as she found a patch of mint leaves, Aiden repeated the familiar steps on picking off a bunch, wrapping them in a large leaf, and sticking it in her pack for safe keeping.