I <knew> he was "Trouble" [Kire]

Moonlight filtered through the now leaf filled branches of the forest, casting dapples of light on the ground beneath my feet. The night air was warm for this time of the year, hinting that spring was officially here making hunting much easier Speaking of hunting, I should hunt I thought. My stomach started to growl as I thought of food. I hadn't eaten since earlier that day and I'd burned most of it off with all the walking I had done. In that one day I'd gone maybe twenty miles or so, and I was tired. My backpack felt like it weighed more than it actually did so I decided to set it down. Soft rustling in the bushes alerted me to the presence of a small creature and I prepped my knife for a kill. A squirrel scampered along in front of me and I killed it swiftly with a clean shot to the eye. Retrieving the squirrel, I inspected it, it was plump for a squirrel in early spring but I wouldn't complain because god only knows when I'll get my next meal.

Having the squirrel meant something else I would have to do, start a fire and cook it. I didn't like making fires as they drew attention but I had been making them throughout the winter to keep warm. One more fire wouldn't hurt. I pulled out my flint and built a small fire pit with dry tinders and a circle of rocks. Soon, I had a good fire going and roasted the squirrel over it on a spit.

The smell of the cooking squirrel made my mouth water as I sharpened my knife on a rock. The meat of it was almost cooked but I didn't want to take any chances. Having food poisoning was not an experience I ever wanted again. The metal scraped against the rock, sending a few sparks flying but not landing anywhere they were in danger of setting fire. I wouldn't be able to deal with a forest fire because that would draw a lot of attention and I'd be caught for sure. As I looked up to check the squirrel, some of the fat from the meat sizzled on the fire, sending up a small shower of sparks. I flinched back but not before one of them landed on cheek. Pain flashed across my face as I cried out and tried to get the damned thing off me. It hurt so much tears came to my eyes. "Get it the fuck off me" I didn't normally swear but this was an exception. With a sigh, I poored some of my water onto the cinder and the pain faded. I pulled the squirrel off the spit and put out the fire, not wanting to draw attention. (Although, I'd probably already done that with my cry of pain) and decided to move off, away from this place where someone was bound to check. My cheek still stung a little bit but the pain wasn't too bad. I munched on my squirrel as I walked.

My feet dragged as I walked, I was so tired I could just sleep for a few days. I finally stopped in a small clearing and unrolled my sleeping bag. My head had barely hit the ground when I was out.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of bird song and felt rejuvinated. The sun was already quite high in the sky, probably around 11 o'clock in the morning. I rolled up my sleeping bag and put it back into my pack before eating a bit more of the squirrel and brushing my long blond hair. since leaving the district, my hair had become a lot longer and I knew I needed to cut it because it was getting in my way. I set off again into the forest but only got a few feet before I heard a snap behind me and whirled, knife raised. I saw a boy, maybe a bit younger than myself standing there. From one glance at him, I had the feeling he was going to give me trouble, "Who are you?" I demanded.